Another story to be told, of that horrific day in Raccoon City
by anhussain
Summary: Richie's world is shattered when he witnesses his infected mother devour his father. Unable to explain the gruesome tragedies that are occurring throughout Raccoon City, this 13 year old has only one goal, and that has kept him alive thus far. Find his classmate and friend Sherry Birkin and find a way to escape, however there are many familiar faces that keep getting in his way...
1. Chapter 1- Shattered Innocence

"MOM NOO!"

Richie screams, in hopes that his mom will stop devouring his dad's face. Richie's parents have fought before but he has never seen this, nothing this gruesome and violent.

Richie begins to cry as he sees his mother tear the flesh away from the dead man, the smell of blood and flesh rots the air and Richie turns to run away, unable to handle the sounds his mother is making while feasting on the dead carcass.

Richie makes it to his room and locks the door; he hides himself under the blankets, armed only with his baseball bat. How could this happen? How could his mom do such a thing? Will she eat Richie too? These are the thoughts running through the thirteen year old, making him cry even more.

Trying to think of any clues or hints, he tries to piece together past conversations, past news and suddenly he remembers, Sherry Birkin. They are classmates at East Raccoon Elementary, and always ended up playing together during recess.

The other kids didn't like her because of where she came from, she gets picked on as being a failed science experiment, and out of pity the parents adopted her. Richie didn't believe such nonsense, he always saw the good in everyone and one day, so many months ago, he decided to play with the lonely girl.

Realizing that she warned him today, Richie begins to recall that moment they shared…

* * *

"Hey Richie, let's go over there, away from everyone. I want to talk to you." We just finished our lunch together and it's time for recess, she grabs my hand and leads me to a spot underneath the trees, away from the others. _Is she going to kiss me?_

It's been over six months since we started to hang out together and I think I'm starting to like her more than just a friend, I wander if she feels the same way? She sits me down and nervously looks around; making sure no one is nearby, _what is she going to do? _

"Richie, I just got a call from my mom and she sounded very worried." She looks straight into my eyes, the blood slowly draining from her face, _is she in trouble? I can protect you Sherry._

"Is there anything I can do to help Sherry?" She looks at me shocked, as if she wasn't expecting that response. "No Richie, there's nothing you can do, all mom told me was to go home right away. She also said that if anything bad was to happen, then to go to the police station and wait there…

She also told me… not to tell anyone." She looks away, embarrassed that she admitted such a selfish request, _why did she tell me? _

"I don't understand Sherry, is there a storm coming?" Looking hurt, she looks deep into my eyes, tears slowly swelling up and it seems that she is trying with all her might not to cry.

"Richie, I've always liked you, you were always so nice to me, even when you didn't have to be. If I don't see you again…"

She looks away again, fighting back the tears and small sobs, "I just want to say thank you!" She gives me a kiss on the lips, catching me by surprise, and before I could react, she turns and runs away.

_What the heck just happened? Something bad is going to happen, but what? _The bell rings, signaling the end of recess and as I make my way back, I can't help but shake the dark feeling that something really bad is going to happen, but what?

Getting lost in my thoughts, I end up being late for class, _what's going to happen?_

I absentmindedly enter class, ignoring the piercing glare of Mrs. Humphrey.

Sitting down I look around and see that Sherry isn't in class, and it hits me, _police station…_

* * *

Richie flings the sheets off and leaps onto the floor, looking for a map of the city. He recalls passing by the police station a couple times and slightly remembers how to get there.

Slightly regaining his composure, he knows what he has to do, Sherry is the only one who knows what's going on, and if she is there, then it will be best to be there too.

As he begins to pack up his gear for the nightly adventure, he hears a loud thump in this parent's room, like something heavy fell onto the floor. He just now noticed that the house is quiet, no more gruesome noises coming from the next happened to his mom, he doesn't know what but he has a strong feeling that she is no longer in this world, and is replaced by something sinister.

Building up the courage, he heads toward the door, slowly unlocking the handle and tiptoes toward his parents room. The closer he gets to their room, the stronger the smell of rotting flesh, suffocating his lungs.

He pauses for a moment, holding back the urge to throw up his dinner. Masking his nose with his sleeve, he slowly edges closer, and peeking through.

He tries to give out a terrifying scream, yet nothing but silence echoes the room. Skin torn off his face, and flesh rotting throughout the body, Richie sees his dad standing up, shoulders slumped and head hanging, lingering by the nightstand. Richie's mother is hovering by the window, trying to figure a way out of the house.

Mouth a gaped, he stares in disbelief at his zombified parents, fighting the urge to cry, he softly sobs at the gruesome sight. Slowly backing away, he carelessly trips on the carpet, stumbling back and knocking over a vase, which shatters onto the wood flooring. A sharp pain surges through his hand as he sees a large gash on his palm.

Looking up, he sees his parents attention focused on him, and slowly begin to make their way toward his direction. Their lifeless eyes gazing at him, growling hunger vibrating through their bodies.

"Mom! Dad! It's me, Richie!"

In a final attempt to bring their parents back to reality, Richie realizes that it is too late. Both his parents are dead, and only their bodies remain. Richie struggles to get up, yet it seems his body has given up, seeing his parents like this has broken so much more than just the cheap vase.

Drawing closer, Richie's parents begin to bare their teeth, saliva oozing to the floor, they are very hungry for fresh meat, even if it means their only son. Richie's heart begins to race, as his short life flashes before his eyes; there is nothing left for him in this world now. His parents begin to drop to their knees and start crawling, ready for the feast. Richie sits against the wall, closing his eyes, ready for his demise. When a small voice echoes in his thoughts.

"Police station… Sherry is at the police station…"

Brought back to life, Richie opens his eyes with full force and realizes that there is something left worth fighting for and her name is Sherry Birkin.


	2. Preparations and a final goodbye

**Chapter 2- Preparations, and a final goodbye**

"Ughhhh," Richie's foot is caught by his father's slippery strong grip. "Dad please!" Richie shouts as he thrashes about, freeing his leg in the knick of time, before his mother barely misses biting away at his thigh.

Springing back to his feet, Richie makes a dash toward his room, fighting the urge to look back. As he locks the door, he begins to resume his preparations.

Not long before he finishes packing, he hears loud thuds and scrapes against the door as his parents desperately want to come inside and share an intimate moment with their delicious son.

Richie tries to ignore the growling hunger as he continues to find the batteries for his head mounted flashlight. Aside from the snack, city map, and first aid kit, Richie realizes he needs a weapon, in case there are more of his parents out there in the city.

Recalling from all the zombie movies he sneaked to watch when he was a kid, he remembers that the survivors always have two types of weapons, one that they can always use and a back up just in case.

Lucky for Richie, his baseball bat is pretty durable and can help him in the worst emergency. That leaves the guns and Richie's dad kept a gun cabinet for when they would go to the shooting range.

Richie wasn't much of a shooter, but now isn't the time to be complaining.

"THUD…. CRACK…"

The door won't be able to handle much more of the damage being inflicted. Richie makes a final mental checklist of what he needs from his room before he sets out.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he sees a terrified kid, with bushy brown curly hair, dark brown eyes with two large caterpillar looking eyebrows. One look and you would want to pet him more than anything else.

"CRACK!"

The door is about to give out, as Richie's parents continue to break down the barricade, annoyed that they have to work so hard for such a small takes on final deep breath.

"After this, there's no turning back. It's all or nothing, and you can do it. You got this."

Richie repeats the last final words, trying to boost his confidence and somehow it helped only a little. Throwing on his backpack and arming himself with his bat, he positions him self across from the door, using his bed as a divider.

Waiting impatiently, the door holds up longer than he expected.

"CRACK!"

The door finally bursts open, and the two walking dead tumble onto the floor. "Ughhh" Gargles one of them, as they begin to work their way up, slowly shuffling their feet toward Richie.

_Please go around, please go around. _

Richie prays that he doesn't have to do any harm to them, no mater how gruesome, they were still his parents. To his surprise, they obeyed his mental command and slowly made their way around his bed, giving Richie the chance to run for the door.

Leaping onto the bed he makes his way, and his parents try to make pursuit but trip on their own uncoordinated feet, falling to the floor. Richie runs down the stairs, through the kitchen, and into the garage, where the weapons are held.

Finding the gun cabinet he tries to pry it open but to his horror, is locked. Using his bat he attempts to break the door down, but like a fortress, it doesn't give way to his attacks.

Trying to remember where the keys to the cabinet are, he recalls that his dad always kept them in his pocket wherever he went, safety was a priority in this house, yet now it has become a hazard.

_Shit, the keys are in his pocket! _

Richie lashes out again at the cabinet in frustration that he has to face his parents once again. If he wants to survive the trip to the police station, he has to have a better weapon than a baseball bat.

Formulating a plan, Richie makes his way back toward the kitchen and waits. He hears his parents' footsteps upstairs as they slowly make their way down. Putting his backpack on the table, he slowly makes his way by the stairs and sees that his parents are almost down.

_Maybe I can knock them out._

Out of pure innocence, Richie still believes that he can save his parents somehow, yet deep down, he knows that this way of thinking won't keep him alive for very long.

Couple more steps and his dad will be in hitting range, _aim for the head. _

Richie readies himself in batting position, struggling to keep a steady breath…

"WHACK!"

Richie strikes his dad on the right temple, sending him flying past his mother. Richie's mom instinctively goes toward the assailant, oblivious that her mate is down and out for the count.

Raising one arm to protect her head, she uses the other to try and grab Richie, who is already back in the kitchen.

Adrenaline is pumping strong as he begins to think more clearly, hearing his mom get closer, Richie waits on the other side of the small round table, where they had their last supper together. As she drew closer, Richie kicked the chair at her, causing her to tumble back and fall.

With slight hesitation, Richie closes his eyes,

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

With all his strength, he strikes his mother on the temple, spraying blood to the furniture and hearing her gargle her last dying breath. Ready for another strike, Richie waits, yet he hears nothing. Making his way back to his dad, he sees him face down in a puddle of crimson blood as it continues to grow larger.

Having his bat ready, he slowly crouches near his dad's right pocket, where he keeps his keys and looking one last time at his father, making sure that he has finally passed. He slowly digs into the pocket, finding the key-chain of keys and slowly pulls it out.

Making his way back to the kitchen, a sudden thought hits him.

_I can't leave them like this._

And without another thought, he begins the ceremony for his parents. One by one he drags them to the living room and covers them with bed sheets.

Saying his final goodbye, he tearfully makes his way toward the garage, with backpack in tow. Unlocking the cabinet door, he is welcomed by an array of weapons.

Looking for his favorite, the Beretta nine caliber pistol, with its wood handle finish. Greeted by his weapon of choice, Richie loads the beautiful pistol, thankful that he won't be alone during this night.

His father gave him this gun as a gift hoping that they can share those father son days together at the range. This was the only thing he liked to shoot, as the shotgun always left bruises on his shoulder. Shoving all the pistol ammunition into his bag, he looks up and sees the 12 gauge shot gun, starting back at him with an evil grin on its face.

Deciding whether or not to bring it, he realizes that it's better to be safe than sorry.

N_o telling what's out there. _

Thankful that the harness is attached, he throws it around his shoulder as the heavy gun hangs off his back, and loads his backpack with shotgun ammunition. Filling the rest of his bag with water bottles, he is ready for the night.

H_opefully I won't have to use any of this stuff._

Before he opens the garage, something shiny catches his eye and he sees his fathers bayonet, hanging on the cabinet door and remembers his fathers advice.

"No matter what adventure you go on, be it hiking, hunting or whatever, always take this knife with you. My father told me the same thing and his father did before him."

Reaching out, he grabs the large knife and unsheathes it, admiring the old blade as it looks brand new. His father was very proud of that knife as it was passed on through generations, and when Richie was ready, he too would have it.

Feeling its weight on his hands, he can feel his families' history, knowing that he must fight to live on, for their sake.

Fighting back the tears that are swelling up, he puts it back in the sheath and attaches it to his belt. Now he is ready.

Opening the garage door, he slowly makes his way to the front and looks around, the air is so quiet, that a drop of a pin could be heard.

Looking up at the dark sky, Richie is greeted by the full moon, bright and lively as ever. Looking back at his house one last time, he says his final fare well and continues on.

Not before long, he is confronted by a low hiss and growl. With his baseball bat at the ready, Richie looks around for the noise. The growl grows louder as a dark shadow bolts out of the bushes, and in front of him is the neighborhood cat, Pumpkin.

_Pumpkin looks mad…_

As Richie looks closer, the feline's fur is falling apart as there are many patches missing and a chunk of its ear torn off. Fresh blood displays around its mouth as it seems that Richie disturbed its eating.

Pumpkin continues to hiss at Richie and looks ready to pounce at any moment. Looking around desperately, Richie tries to find its owners, who are no where to be seen. He always despised this cat because this cat was infamously known to make messes where ever it goes, and if you leave something outside he will take it.

Richie has been scratched by this bastard many times when he tried to make peace with it and finally came to terms that this cat is the devil.

Slowly edging closer to Pumpkin, Richie readies his bat, recalling that when close enough the cat always lunges at its aggressor and to his joy, Pumpkin did just that. With a swing of his bat, he send the ferocious feline across the street.

"MEEOOWAGHHH!"

Screeches the demonic creature, landing not so gracefully.

"Hehe, home run you bastard."

Richie trots toward the cat chuckling to himself as he finally gave that cat a taste of its own medicine. Pumpkin lays on the ground, twitching and choking on his own blood.

Having pity for the poor creature, Richie takes out his pistol and aims it at the creatures head.

"So long Pumpkin."

Pulling the trigger, a loud bang echoes through the street, sending the feline to its permanent slumber. Richie tucks the gun away, feeling the hot metal touch his skin.

Looking around to see if anyone will come rushing out from the loud gun shot, he is met only with silence.

Crouching to get a better look at the cat, he remembers something, something that happened earlier today. Richie's mom was scratched by Pumpkin, which is very strange because she is the only one in the neighborhood that Pumpkin likes.

_Was it Pumpkin that caused her to change like that?_

Thinking hard, Richie focuses back later in the day when he was eating dinner with his parents and the curious scratch that changed everything…

* * *

**Earlier that day…**

"Hey mom, I'm home!"

I announced as I walk through the front door, greeted with the aroma of chicken and potatoes,

_mmmm my favorite._

"Hi honey, how was school today?"

Mom yells from the kitchen. Making my way, I see her tossing salad into the air,

_man I wish I could do that and not make a mess._

"School was, eh, ok." Sneaking past her to the pantry, trying not to arouse suspicion, I eat two sugar cookies.

"Don't spoil your dinner! I made your favorite." She says, playfully throwing a hand towel at me.

"Haha I know, the smell slapped me in the face when I walked in. What's the occasion?" She looks at me after placing the salad onto the dinner table, with a big smirk on her face.

"We know how much you wanted to go to Spain this year for that study abroad program, and well, since we had to tighten our belts around here, we finally found a way to send you there!"

_This day went from bad to great!_

"Really? Oh man, I don't know what to say! Thank you!" I run and give her a tight hug, surprised by the wonderful news.

Our family has had it rough, ever since my dad was let go from Umbrella. He was on security detail, and apparently when you work for Umbrella, asking questions will get you fired.

He asked one too many and they finally let him go, cutting off his benefits and everything, the bastards.

So since then, he has been doing odd jobs here and there, trying to make an income for his family. Mom went back as a librarian, bringing the little income that she makes over there.

Yet, she always has a smile on her face, always trying to look at the positives for everything.

Still in her embrace, she reminds me that its time for dinner and that I should wash up. Before I leave, I see a bandage around her forearm, from all the excitement I must have missed it.

"Hey mom what happened to your arm?" I wash up at the kitchen sink instead.

"Oh, Pumpkin scratched me."

_Son of a…_

"I was feeding him this morning after you left and for some reason when I tried to pet him, he hissed at me, and when I tried again, he scratched me. There is something wrong with that cat, I've never seen him like this. I think he's sick or something."

She rubs the bandage as she recalls the events of that strange morning.

"You should get it checked out, he might have rabies or something like that. You don't want to catch whatever he's got, the bastard."

I mutter the last part under my breath, yet somehow she heard me because she throws me a dirty look.

"Go get your father."

Heading towards the stairs, I stroll along the hallway, dumping my backpack in my room before making my way to my parents' room. "Hey dad, dinners ready."

Peeking through I see him watching the news.

"The gruesome killings continued today as two more hikers were found in the Arklay mountains today, their bodies mutilated. Forensics show that these attacks are done by wild dogs or small bears, they are still uncertain. Eye witnesses say they are beginning to see strange things happening within the city, yet there is no confirmation of that. Umbrella spokesman…"

Turning of the television, my dad curses under his breath at the mention of Umbrella and gets up off the bed, stretching his arms over his head.

"Man, there are weird things happening around here, and it's sad to see the S.T.A.R.S unit being broken apart like that."

Ever since he was let go, he has a part time job at the Raccoon City Police Department as a night guard and has come to meet a few of the officers. Chris Redfield is someone he talks very highly of, and I was able to meet him once.

You can tell that something terribly happened those months ago.

"Alright kiddo lets go eat."

Slapping my back, nearly knocking me over, we make our way to the kitchen, laughing at how fun it would be to set a trap for Pumpkin. Yea, we both hate that damn cat.

Sitting at our usual spots, we begin to serve our plates, I serve mom first since she worked so hard to make it.

As we begin to eat, I notice she is eating very quickly, also forgetting her table manner.

S_he must be really hungry?_

"Slow down honey, or you'll choke." Jokes my dad, who has a worried look on his face,

"I'm sorry, just never realized how hungry I was."

Watching my mom devour the chicken breast, makes me a little queasy, and I just pick at my food, losing my appetite.

"Give me your chicken if you're not going to eat it, don't want to waste any food."

She swipes the chicken off my plate without giving me a chance to hand it to her, "honey are you ok?"

My dad has put his fork down and the concern is etched larger onto his face, _something is up but what?_

Without responding, mother finishes her plate and begins to lick it.

E_ewww mom, what are you doing? _

"Oh my, that was so delicious!"

Clearing the table, my dad and I are shocked that she finished so fast and is actually clearing our plates as well.

"I wasn't finished yet, what's the matter with you?"

Protests my dad who is beginning to look aggravated.

"I'M FINE!"

Explodes mom, throwing the dishes into the garbage can, shattering a few plates along the way.

Stunned, we stare at her, unable to figure out what the problem is, and before we could say anything, she runs up stairs crying, we hear the door slam to their room.

"What… the hell… just happened?"

Unable to comprehend the question, I sit there frozen.

_I never saw mom act this way before…_

"I… I think its rabies… Pumpkin was acting strange too and he did scratch her pretty bad."

Cursing under his breath, dad gets up, heading towards the stairs.

"I'll go see if she's ok, if you see that stupid cat, kill it."

Leaving me to my thoughts, I hear my parents upstairs, and they begin to shout.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU LAY A FINGER ON ME!"

_What the hell? What's going on up there?_

"CRASH! THUD…"

_Oh shit! _

Trying to hear more, I'm left with silence…

_Oh shit oh shit._

I slowly make my way to the stairs, trying really hard to hear the faintest sound… nothing.

Climbing the flight of stairs I see the door slightly open, and with each step I dare myself to get any closer.

_I hope they're ok…_

As I get closer, I hear a loud chewing sound, lips smacking.

_Are they chewing gum?_

The sound of something ripping, like when you rip off the skin from a chicken leg, yet this sounds a lot nastier…

Building up the courage I peek over the corner, all the air getting knocked out of me, as I see my mother, eating dads face…It all feels like a bad dream.

_This has to be a bad dream, wake up Richie… WAKE UP!_

"MOM NOO!"

* * *

**~Hi everyone! Here is a new chapter. I dont usually post writings for everyone to see but here it is!**

** It starts off pretty sad but it will evolve into something else, hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it!**

**Best Regards,**

**A.H **


	3. So it begins Damn

**Chapter 3- So it begins… Damn**

Richie is brought back to current reality with a new theory as to what happened and how this new information could save his life.

_Mom got infected when Pumpkin scratched her, breaking the skin._

He concluded that in order to stay alive, he must make sure that nothing infected will break his skin.

_Thank God I'm wearing layers of clothing. _

With thick blue jeans, and two layers of fabric underneath his jacket, Richie sighed heavily, thankful for the breezy chill in the air. Taking one last look at Pumpkin, he makes his way down the street. Taking in the quiet surroundings, he grips his baseball bat tightly, saddened that his once lively street, has become a ghost town.

Turning right onto the stop sign, he continues his brisk walk, in full alert for the faintest sound.

_I feel like I'm being watched. _

Richie stops and nervously looks behind him, expecting someone to jump out, yet only the howl of the wind brushes his face, urging him to continue onward. Continuing his walk, he begins to see shopping centers in the distance, hoping that he will see some sort of life.

As he picks up the pace, he notices a dark shadowy figure in the corner of his eye, which gets his heart pumping faster, adrenaline spreading throughout the body, ready for fight or flight mode.

Looking toward the bushes, he tries to hear for the sounds that might give away the stalker, yet the wind is making it a lot more difficult than it needs to be.

_Come on out, who ever you are. _

Still in his tracks, Richie slowly inches away from the spot where he saw the shadowy figure, only to hear a low rumbling growl behind him.

_Pumpkin?_

Spinning around, Richie is met with an ugly canine, or what used to be.

_WHAT THE-_

before he can finish his thought the mutated mutt lunges at him, mouth open and teeth ready to chomp into his face. Instinctively Richie had his bat at the ready and was able to block the attack, yet from the force of the animal, he has fallen onto his back.

The beast caught hold of the bat, trying to pry it away from its owner.

_How the hell is this dog so strong? _

Richie struggles under the weight of the canine, as it continues to try and release its grip from the bat. Richie struggles to reach for his gun but is afraid that if he lets go for a second then he will lose this fight.

_Oh shit oh shit._

Trying to think of another plan, Richie begins to knee the dog in the gut, yet has little affect, the infected beast continues to thrash about, hoping to rip off Richie's arms in the process. Desperation growing, Richie bets on his gun. With one final kick he lets go of his bat, sending the dog flying back only to land on its feet, taking another lunge.

Just in time, Richie retrieves his weapon and shoots the dog point blank in the face, instantly killing it as it lands onto his body.

"Ughh."

Moans Richie as the smell of the animal begins to creep up.

H_e smells like he has been dead for a long time, eww gross. _

Shoving the animal off him, he struggles to get back on his feet, surveying his body to make sure that he isn't hurt.

_Oh man, I know I should have brought the damn febreze with me._

Walking to retrieve his bat, Richie turns on his headsetted flashlight to get a better look at his assailant and as he inches closer, he covers his nose with his sleeve, unable to take in the rotting smell.

Getting a better look now, he realizes that this dog used to be a German Sheppard, yet most of its fur is gone, exposing the muscle tissue.

On a closer look, he can see a few ribs protruding out, a couple seem to have broken off.

W_hat the hell?_

Trying to keep his vomit in check, he darts his view toward the head of the animal and notices the whites of its eyes, staring ahead. Parts of the skull are cracked open, exposing parts of the brain, and that wasn't because of the bullet wound which sits in between the eyes.

_Lucky shot, hopefully I'll be getting more of those kind of shots tonight._

Unable to look at the repulsive creature any longer, Richie returns his gun back in place and continues onward toward the shopping center.

Richie finally arrives to the deserted shopping center and tries his luck at the Taxago station.

_Let me clean myself up really quick._

He makes his way to the side of the building looking for the restroom. Finding the blue label indicating "restroom," Richie puts his ear against the door and knocks, making sure that it's empty. Hearing no reply, he makes his way inside.

U_ghh what the hell? Why are these restrooms always so disgusting?_

Looking over the toilet, he sees that someone completely missed the bowl and have sprayed not only the rim, but all over the wall as well.

_Idiots. _

The walls are also tagged with brown graffiti.

_I really really hope that is brown spray paint._

Not wanting to stay a minute longer in this disgusting room, Richie tries to wash himself off the remaining blood left from the mutated dog. Looking up at himself in the severely scratched mirror, he can barely tell who is looking back at him.

Giving a frusterated sigh, he picks up his back pack and weapons and gears up.

Leaving the shit-hole, he makes his way around to the front, seeing a large semi truck parked outside.

_Y_es!_ Someone is here. _

Feeling the excitement take over, he runs toward the truck, climbing up the steps and peers inside.

_Empty. He must be inside. _

Leaping off the side he makes his way to the front...

"CRASH!"

A man flew out the window and landing a few feet away. Startled by the sudden outburst, Richie runs toward the poor man, only to stop dead in his tracks when he sees his ghost white eyes and sickly pale face.

_Shit no! _

Without another thought, Richie hides behind a gas pump and peers over to get a better look, trying to slow down his panicked breathing. Coming from the front door of the store, Richie sees a larger man, in a white shirt, with the right side of his arm covered in blood.

He continues to run toward his truck, making sure the zombie is at a safe distance.

_Oh no! He's hurt!_

Building up the courage, Richie starts running toward the driver.

"ARE YOU OK!?"

Yelling at the top of his lungs, startling the driver, only to make him fun faster.

"GET AWAY FROM ME! I'M NOT GOING TO GET BITTEN AGAIN BY YOU SICK FREAKS!"

Jumping into his truck the man starts the large vehicle and drives off carelessly, almost hitting Richie in the process.

_He was bitten?_

"Ugghhhh"Not enough time to think of what happened, Richie is greeted by the familiar groan.

Wheeling around, he sees the gas attendant walking slowly toward him.

_I better get out of here. _

Making a dash toward the direction of the truck that drove off, Richie sprints toward the inner district of Raccoon City. As he slows down, he is awed at how empty the streets are with no one in sight.

_It feels like even the city itself is infected and slowly dying. _

Lost in his own thoughts, Richie is greeted by familiar memories of this loving city...

"AAHHHHH!"

Someone yelled out, followed by gunshots. Startled by the sudden noise, Richie runs in the direction of the noise.

_Someone is alive and they need help! _

Followed by a few more gunshots, Richie sees a familiar place, "Emmy's!"

This diner is where Richie and his dad came to have their father son chats. Richie also recently started to take Sherry here after school and they would eat, talk and drink as many shakes as their stomachs could hold.

Feeling a pang of guilt that he hasn't gotten to the police station yet, Richie decides to detour at Emmy's, to see if there are any survivors.

Slowly walking toward the front door, he sees someone lying on the floor, with blood around the body. Having his bat at the ready, Richie slowly enters the diner, trying not to let the bells alert anyone nearby.

Successfully entering quietly, Richie walks toward the body, alert for more surprises. When he inches closer to the body, he sees to his horror that the dead body belongs to Mac, the owner of this establishment.

"Oh no, Mac… Why?"

Mac was good friends with Richie's dad, and would always give advice to Richie whenever he came in feeling blue. Seeing a bullet hole in the middle of his head, Richie realized that Mac is long gone from this world, and should give him a proper goodbye.

Finding a large apron near the counter, Richie covers the owners head.

Before he can complete the ritual, Richie hears tires screeching from outside and the sound of a car driving off.

_Oh no! They're leaving._

Opening the back door, he is greeted by a gang of zombies, all walking toward the cars direction.

"Oh shit!"

Covering his mouth from the sudden outburst.

The large group of zombies stop in their tracks and slowly turn around, now heading toward Richie.

_Me and my big mouth._

Seeing an opening on the side, Richie dashes down the street, easily avoiding their grasps.

_It's a good thing_ _they're slow. _

Looking behind him for any followers, he slows down to catch his breath, trying to figure out which direction the survivors went. Not having enough time to catch his breath, a large explosion erupts down a couple blocks, causing Richie to fall back in surprise.

"What the hell!?"

Richie works his way up and heads toward the explosion.

_Please be alive, please. _

Arriving on the scene, Richie sees a fiery inferno, blazing down the street, and recognizes the semi truck.

_So he did end up turning after all. _

The satisfaction of proving his theory is short lived when he sees more zombies coming his way. Turning around to run, he is confronted with another group of zombies, closing the distance between them.

_Damn it I'm trapped. _

Not seeing any other options, Richie pulls out his Beretta and secures his bat to his back pack. Checking the ammo, he readies the weapon to the closest zombie.

"I'm sorry."

Firing the shots into the dead man's body, he sees that it has little affect on him. Aiming higher toward the head he fires, yet only grazing the ear.

"C'mon!"

Firing his last shot, hits the zombie square in the forehead, causing it to fall. Pulling out another magazine from his pocket, Richie reloads the weapon and aims for another zombie, firing a couple more missed shots. Inching his way closer to the zombie taking better aim, he fires another shot and hits the walking corpse in the left eye, causing it to scream in agony. "Now's my chance." Making a run toward the gap in the zombies barrier, Richie leaps through and continues running.

"AAAAHHHH!"

A terrifying painful scream echoes down the street, making Richie run faster.

_I wont lose you again. _

Turning a corner into a dark alley, he almost trips over a body that lies on the floor, but catches himself just in time. Looking down, he tries to make out the face, but only sees bullet holes instead.

_I hope its no one I know_.

Looking back up, he sees a sign down the alley.

_Gun shop? _

Checking his ammo, he reloads both clips and slowly makes his way toward the store. The closer he gets the more he hears that familiar sound of flesh being torn from bone.

_Don't tell me I'm too late?_

Tiptoeing closer by the window, Richie peeks around the side and holds his mouth from giving him away.

_NOO!_

Six zombies are feasting over a large man, or what was left of him. Anger raising, Richie walks back frustrated that he wasn't able to come in time, and frustrated that he has to continue alone.

Unable to contain his anger, Richie drops his gear and switches to the shotgun. Digging in his bag, he grabs a handful of shells and shoves them into his pocket.

"I'm tired of running."

Cocking the large weapon he slowly positions himself by the large group of cannibals.

"Eat this assholes."

Firing the shotgun at close range, shattering a couple of skulls and the recoil punches Richie hard in the shoulder.

"Ugh."

Grunting slightly from the recoil, Richie shoots again, shattering a few more skulls.

Two zombies are left and are slowly making their way up toward Richie, hungry for his young flesh. Reloading his shotgun, Richie cocks it in disgust and fires at point blank, disintegrating half their heads and down they fall.

"WHO ELSE WANTS A PIECE OF ME?!"

Richie screams in frustration.

Hearing no volunteers, Richie returns to his bag and reloads the large weapon, placing it by the wall when he is done. Looking around the shop, he decides to stock up on ammunition.

Seeing a vest on the rack, he tries it on. Fitting snugly, he inserts his pistol on the holster of the vest, and picks up more magazines for the pistol. Filling up the vest as much as possible with ammunition so that he doesn't run out during an attack. Finally finishing up the raid of the gun store, Richie grabs his back pack and shotgun and heads toward the back door.

Before leaving he sees someone he doesn't recognize by the gun rack.

Taking a closer look, he cant recognize who that person is anymore. Breaking the mirror with the butt of his shotgun, Richie walks off toward the back door, ready for what ever this dead city has to offer...

* * *

**Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I really appreciate the reviews! It's exciting to see that you are all enjoying this story. Thank you and the next chapter will begin very soon! =)**

**A.H**


	4. Truthful Lies

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own, or have any rights to the Resident Evil franchise, which includes and not limited to: the story, characters and anything else that relates to Capcom's game. Just a fan who enjoys a good story...

Here is the next chapter, enjoy...

**Chapter 4- Truthful Lies**

Walking through the back alley, Richie has his pistol at the ready. The stench of rotting flesh slaps him in the face as he makes a corner, coming into view a gruesome murderous scene.

Five zombies lie in their own puddles of blood, carved out with bullet holes.

_The survivor must have gone this way_.

Making his way toward the basketball courts-

"YOU PIECE OF SHIT! LET GO OF MY LEG!" Followed by a couple of gun shots.

The direction was straight ahead.

_I can catch him if i jump the gate._

Running at a full sprint, Richie gets ready to jump over the gate that is in his way.

Leaping onto the trash can, he makes another leap over the gate, only to fall short and make it half way.

"Ooph!"

He lands onto his crotch, straddling the metal gait, knocking out all the air in an instant.

Sliding off the gate to the other side, Richie lands onto his back, which thankfully his back pack broke the fall.

Looking up at the gate, he notices that it was unlocked; as the chain sits idly on the floor.

_All that work and I could have walked through, gee thanks. _

Getting his strength back, Richie leaps up and continues his run, ending up at the entrance of the subway station.

Seeing a dead zombie on the steps, Richie makes his way down, hoping that the survivor is still there, yet the closer he gets, the louder he can hear voices.

By the ticket counter, there is a group of people and they seem to be holding up someone at gun point.

_Maybe I should get a closer look. _

Richie tip toes around the side, so as not to be seen and eavesdrop on their conversation.

"We cant let you go just yet Bertolucci, not until you tell us everything you know about whats going on here"

A large man with a mustache has two officers pointing their guns at the suspect. The suspect is dressed in office work clothes, yet he has his tie loosened up and the top part of his shirt unbuttoned.

While being interrogated, he is putting up his hair into a ponytail, not really taking the others too seriously.

"Do you think that it's wise to be making threats, Irons? I have evidence that will destroy everything that you built in less than two minutes."

Bertolucci has a smug look on his face.

_Whats going on here?_

Richie recognizes Irons as the chief of the police department. Richie's dad would tell him stories about the guy, many of them painting a rather ugly picture of the chief.

One story that gives Richie goosebumps was when his father walked in on Irons touching one of the women clerks in the office, and no one dared to say anything about it.

Getting another look at the group, Richie notices that one of the officers is missing.

_Hey where did he go? _

"Looks like we have a rat."

Before Richie could turn around and see who was behind him, a sharp pain shoots across the back of his head and instantly loses consciousness…

* * *

"Hahaha when did you start growing a white mustache?"

Sherry is laughing at me while I wipe the whip cream off my upper lip. Oh man every time we come to Emmy's we always have so much fun.

Sherry is sitting next to me at the bar, enjoying her chocolate fudge brownie ice cream.

"Yea well at least I don't have chocolate all over my face."

A look of terror spreads across her face as she starts wiping her face with her napkin.

"Where is it? Is it gone?"

Looking up at me, she gives me the puppy eyes, hoping that I could clean off her face.

"Well let me see…"

I grab a little whip cream.

"Oh well you got the chocolate, but completely missed the whip cream."

As I say it, I smear whip cream across her face, Sherry looks at me shocked of what I just did to her, after she worked so hard to wipe the imaginary chocolate.

"RICHIE!"

Sherry screams, startling the other diner's near by, who some of them are giving us the stink eye. Laughing at Sherry's scrunched up face, I take my napkin and wipe away the whip cream.

"That's what you get for poking fun at me." I teased.

"Hey whats all the commotion over here?"

Mak walks up to us with a frustrated look, and a large coffee stain on his shirt.

"Hey Mak what happened to your shirt? Coffee didn't taste good or what?"

Mak throws me a dirty look, "I was happily enjoying my coffee, until miss lungs over here screamed."

Sherry's face turns red and she looks away.

_She is so cute when she gets embarrassed. _

"I'm sorry Mr. Emmy, Richie just really surprised me is all."

Sherry gives Mak a face that could melt anyone's heart.

"Aww don't worry about it kiddo, I'll just put it on Richie's bill."

Giving her a wink he walks off toward the kitchen. Sherry chuckles at the idea and resumes eating her ice cream.

"So Richie, now that summer is almost over, what other plans do you have?"

I have been working with dad on his side projects this summer, mostly being his assistant while he plays Mr. fixit for our neighborhood.

He always says that working builds character and that I needed a lot of work, _thanks dad._

"Well, my dad finally let me go to enjoy the rest of the summer, so at this point I don't know. Maybe go exploring the Arklay mountains, see if I can find anything spooky."

Sherry's face begins to worry and seems like she wants to say something, yet is doing a pretty good job at holding it in.

"I don't think that its safe out there. I over heard my parents and when they talked about what happened last month, they were really upset about it.

"_Hmm, if her parents seem that worried about it, then there has to be something out there worth exploring_

Sherry looks at me, as if she heard my thoughts.

"Richie, promise me that you wont go up there? Please, you're the only friend I have and if anything happened to you then I don't know what I'd do."

Her eyes begin to water up, _oh no please don't cry. _

"Ok ok, wow it must be that bad then huh?"

She nods her head.

"Well Sherry, lets make a deal then, what ever happens, we will always look out for each other, through thick or thin. What do you say?"

Sherry looks at me strangely to have made such a request, yet a small smile begins to grow on her face.

"Pinky promise?"

She sticks out her pinky, ready to make the pact. Returning her smile, I lock her pinky with mine.

"Pinky promise."

With a smile of satisfaction, Sherry goes back to her ice cream...

"Hey kid wake up…"

Richie looks around at the strange echo going through the diner. Looking at Sherry, she goes on eating her treat, ignoring the loud whisper.

"HEY KID WAKE UP!"

Startled by the abrupt shout, Richie falls off his stool, and gets ready for the impact…

Which never happens, looking around he sees that he has fallen into a black hole and begins to panic.

"AAAHHHHH!"

He screams as he fades into darkness…

* * *

Launching off the bed, Richie head butts the person in front of him.

"AGHH!" Both yell out in pain.

"What the hell kid, you trying to crack my head? Shit that hurt!"

Opening his eyes, Richie finds himself sharing a jail cell with …

"Bertolucci?"

The man looks up at Richie, still wiping his forehead, trying to ease the pain.

"Yea? You got something to say?"

_Sounds like he wants me to apologies._

"What the heck am I doing in here? I didn't do anything wrong?"

Bertolucci looks at Richie with a curious face.

"Yea well, even though hell is breaking loose in the streets, its illegal to carry all that fire power."

He chuckles as he moves to the other bed.

"Plus you were a witness to the chief's corruption, so either way you were in trouble."

Richie looks around, yet there is a sharp pain in the back of his head, thanks to that cop that knocked him out. Looking down, Richie notices that his vest, and knife are gone too.

"Don't worry kid, your supplies are in the next cell, I saw the other two put it there."

Relieved to know that his weapons are right next door, Richie sits back on the bed, trying to figure out a way out.

_All I have to do now is get out of this cell and look for Sherry, she must be somewhere inside this building. _

"So, you got a name kid?"

Richie looks up, deciding whether or not to trust this shady character.

"Yea, its Richie."

Bertolucci gives a crooked smile, raveling a piece of green vegetable wedged in-between his teeth, _eww gross. _

"Names Ben... Well I don't know about you but I'm gonna take a nap."

Ben lies down, trying to make himself comfortable.

"Wait! You don't want to escape?"

Richie fights back the frustration, yet his tone of voice gives it away.

"And get eaten by one of those things, no thanks."

Richie looks at him and wander how such a man could be a threat to the chief of police.

"Well, then could you help me get out then?" Ben ignores Richie's request, pretending to be already asleep.

_What an ass._

Richie slowly gets back up, trying to ignore the throbbing pulsation in his head, and makes his way to the bars, checking to see if it is unlocked.

_Damn, of course they would lock it. _

Looking around the room, he tries to find something that he could use to pick the locks, yet finds nothing useful. Standing by the bars, Richie stands there frustrated that all that work he went through to get here and now he is stuck here.

_I have to get out of here and find Sherry-_

cutting off his thought, something taps him on the back and falls to the floor. Looking down he sees a pair of keys.

"Make sure you lock up before you go."

Ben remarks as he is still pretending to nap. Shocked by the sudden help, all Richie could mutter was "thanks" and begins to unlock the cell door.

"Umm, just out of curiosity, how did you get these keys? "

Ben finally looks up at Richie with an evil grin on his face.

"I swiped it off the cops before they threw me in here. Being a journalist this long, you pick up a few tricks along the way hehe."

Richie smiled and went to the next cell to retrieve his stuff, which lie waiting for him. Finding nothing missing he suits up and checks his Beretta to make sure that its fully loaded.

Satisfied, he heads back to Ben, to give back the keys, in case he might want to leave later on. Locking the door to Ben's cell, Richie throws the keys back to him.

"Hey before I go, what were you talking about with Chief Irons? What happened to this place?"

Ben sits up, looking at Richie with a serious face.

_Do I really want to know? _

Ben stands and inches closer to Richie, _is he going to whisper it to my ear? _

"Everything that happened here resulted from an accident. Umbrella was developing some kind of virus and because of that accident, the whole thing went out of control. There was a contact I had for a while, but they ended up firing him because the kind of questions he was asking."

_Wait what? He isn't talking about dad is he? _

"In the end, I was able to tie Irons and Umbrella together and had one of the biggest stories of the century. Just need to wait out the infestation and when its quiet, ill just sneak out of the city through the sewers, which is the best way out. Then ill be able to tell the story."

With a triumphant look on his face, Ben sits back down, getting ready for his nap.

"By any chance, the name of that contact wasn't Ted, was it?"

Ben looks up at Richie in surprise, "yea! How did you know?"

_This explains a lot of why dad was let go. _

Richie hesitates to answer.

"He… He was my dad."

Looking away, Richie's zombified parents flash across his mind.

"Was? Did he turn into…" Ben doesn't finish his question, as Richie slowly nods.

"That's a shame, your father was a great man. Very brave for what he did. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have much proof and Umbrella would have gotten away with it."

Ben digs into his pocket and pulls out a floppy disk.

"Hey kid, take this."

He gets up to hand Richie the disk, perplexed Richie takes it.

"It's a copy of all the data on Umbrella, and when the public finds out, this will end them for sure. The case is pretty durable, so you don't have to worry about breaking it... In case one of us doesn't make it out, the other can go make things right."

Richie puts the floppy in one of the pockets on the vest, close to him so that he wont lose it.

_Dad risked everything to expose Umbrella, I wont let that go in vain. _

"Thanks Ben. You be careful ok?"

Richie makes his way toward the door when he hears Ben reply "good luck kid, you'll be needing it."

Walking out the gated meshed door, Richie wanders through the hallway, following the signs that are painted on the walls.

_RPD through garage... Ok. _

Turning a corner, he finds the door at the end of the metallic hallway.

_Almost there, cant believe I made it this far…_

Turning the handle and walking through, Richie crashes into the door, smacking his face in the process.

_What the hell?_

Repeatedly trying to open the door, something on the other side replies with a clank every time.

"No…. NOOOOO!"

Ben hears Richie's wails of frustration, "Maybe I should have told him that they blocked off the garage...Nah, hehe"

Richie tries harder, throwing his shoulder into it, trying desperately to open it. Sticking his arm through the opening he tries to feel around, and is met with a cold metallic touch, with rivets here and there.

_Who the hell parks their car out side a door?... Of course_.

Realizing that the only person capable was Chief Irons. Finding no other way through, Richie walks back to the first door that he passed through.

"Kennel?"

Richie opens the door cautiously, hoping nothing lunges out at him. To his relief, he is only met with shelves full of dog food. Closing the door, he walks around the corner and sees a couple of cages along the wall, and an open man hole.

_Does this lead to the sewers? Ben said that was the best way out. First I need to find Sherry though. _

Hearing a snarl behind him, Richie wheels around, gun at the ready, yet there is nothing there. The snarling continues to get louder, and slowly Richie walks toward the large cages, there he is acquainted with the canine unit of RPD, unfortunately they are infected.

_Hope these bars can hold them back, not that I want to stick around to find out. _

The two dogs eye him suspiciously, bearing their grotesque teeth, snarling at the young intruder.

_I better get out of here. _

Taking a step back, one of them lunges out but is held back by the metal bars, barking viciously.

_That's my cue to go_.

Turning around, trying to ignore the hateful barks, another sound catches him by surprise, the sound of metal hitting the ground with hard force. Frozen in his tracks, Richie turns around and is stunned to see the metal gate on the floor, with a zombified dog standing on top of it.

_There was one in the other cage?!_

The dog growling, opens his mouth and a long tongue hangs out, coated with thick saliva.

"Good boy… Stay…"

The dog slowly approaches Richie, disobeying his order, not breaking eye sight.

"No, bad boy. Bad!"

Richie slowly backs up until he hits the wall behind him, daring not to take his eyes off this ugly creature.

_Either I run for the door and hopefully make it, or jump down the sewers and close it behind me. _

Before he could make his decision, the dog begins to charge at full speed, Richie decides on the second choice, leaping through the man hole.

Sticking his hand out to close the hole, he barely looses his fingers as the metal plate closes shut, and Richie free falls into the sewers below. Not able to see the ground he braces for the impact just in the nick of time as he lands on his feet, yet slips from the slippery floor and stumbles forward, falling onto his face, drinking in a few gulps of the horrid water.

"UGHH!"

Coughing up whatever is left, Richie is unable to hold back and vomit explodes into the water, only adding more to the already unique mixture.

Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he looks up and hears the scratches of the dog, trying to dig his way through.

_From one shit hole, into another_.

Getting back onto his feet, Richie turns on his headset flash light, and continues his journey. Turning a corner, he hears a strange noise behind him.

"_Pit pat pit pat pit pat_."

Getting his gun ready, Richie turns around and points at the empty air.

_Maybe it's the dog scratches echoing or something. _

Keeping his gun at the ready, Richie continues to walk.

"_Pit pat pit pat pit pat_." He turns around again, yet is met with the same empty outcome as before.

_Hmm maybe it's the rats or something. _

Turning another corner, he sees a couple of steps at the end of the corridor and faint light, _yes almost there_.

Walking toward the stairs, Richie begins to pick up speed, glad that he made it somewhere with no disturbances,

"_pit pat pit pat pit pat…_"

_I'm not falling for it again, stupid rats. _

"SPLOSH!"

Something heavy drops into the water, splashing Richie in the back, turning around to see the fat rat that fell in, he is face to face with something even more sinister.

Two large glowing eyes staring at him, with eight long hairy legs attached to a body the size of a baby elephant, Richie stands there frozen at the sight.

_Wha… what… is that?!_

Unable to comprehend the size of the spider, Richie is both petrified and awed by its monstrous size, its fangs moving together in a rhythm that shows that its ready to eat. Unable to regain control of his legs, Richie continues to gawk at the giant beast, who is slowly turning around, ready to catch its dinner.

Remembering the special on tarantulas on the discovery channel, Richie realizes what this creature is getting ready to do.

_Oh shit oh shit, move Richie… MOVE!_

The final command came in time as Richie sprints toward the stairs. Running his way up, he see a metal meshed door.

_Please don't be locked please! _

Reaching out to turn the handle, his prayers are answered as he opens the rusty door, continuing his run down the hall, reaching for the next door. Closing it behind him, he catches his breath.

"THUD"

Startled by the door behind him, he hears the faint scratching sound and a low screech of the hairy spider. With his gun out, pointing at the door, Richie is ready in case the venomous thing could open doors.

Slowly the scratching stops and he hears the creature trod off, pissed that it missed its meal. Richie brings his awareness to his location and finds a metal bridge. Two metal tanks sit on either side of it, giving off spouts of steam every once in a while.

Walking toward the middle of the bridge, he looks over the railing and sees a long drop down, kicking over a screw that sits by his foot, he strains his ear to hear the landing…

"_splash..._"

_Wow that's a drop. _

Looking around he sees a door around the corner.

_Before I go any further, I need to eat something to get the shitty taste out of my mouth._

Taking off his back pack he kneels down and rummages around for a good snack-

"CLANK"

The door in front has been closed shut. Startled by the sudden noise, Richie peeks over, yet sees nothing.

"Hmm, probably a draft."

Paying no attention to the noise, he goes back into his search.

"THUD... THUD... THUD..."

A spine tingling chill rolls down Richie's back.

_That doesn't sound like a giant spider, whats next, giant alligators?! _

Reaching for his gun, a sharp pain blows across his back as he is sent flying over the railing, yet miraculously hangs onto the metal bar for dear life, the other clutching his back pack.

Looking up, Richie sees a monster that he has never imagined could exists, let alone be standing in front of him.

Peering over at him, a man, or what seems like half a man, stares down Richie with hate filled eyes. His left side seems almost normal, the man has blond hair, stained with streaks of red.

That isn't the horrific part of it, the right side of this beast is beyond human. The right shoulder bone sticks out and is covered with thick muscle tissue shaping into a tree trunk. Underneath is a giant bloodshot eye, staring down at the boy, wandering who this intruder is and if he is after the sample too.

The right arm, or at least what looks more like a claw, is clenched, as if ready to strike Richie down. Beyond terrified, Richie hangs there, not knowing what to do, unable to reach the edge, he slowly begins to lose his grip, as his hands continue to sweat from fear.

The creature looks at the railing that Richie is hanging onto and slowly reaches for it. Unable to hold the heavy back pack, Richie drops it, unable to to hear a splash until a couple of long seconds later.

_Either fall to my death or die by him… Shit… _

Getting a better grip with both hands Richie eyes the monster suspiciously.

With a firmer grip on the railing the beast rips it off with ease, holding it up to get a better look at the boy. Unable to control his body, Richie just hangs there, petrified that he could be torn to shreds in a matter of seconds.

"Are you after the sample too?"

The man part of the creature asks him, with a raspy voice. Unable to answer the question, Richie looks at the name tag.

_Dr. William… Birkin! Sherry's DAD?!_

Richie's mind continues to receive shocking blows of all this new information.

Dr. Birkin's patience has reached its limit, he turns around and with strong force throws Richie off the railing, into the wall.

Current reality knocked back into Richie, he looks up at Dr. Birkin, unable to hide the horror on his face.

"Dr….. Dr. Birkin! I'm Sherry's friend, Richie!"

Dr. Birkin halts to a stop at the mention of his daughters name, the bloodshot eye on the shoulder begins to spin out of control.

"Sherry… Where is Sherry?!"

Dropping the railing, Dr. Birkin drops to his knees and tries to regain control of the virus.

"Sherry…"

Richie gets back up, gun at the ready and slowly makes his way toward the infected doctor. Just close enough within reach, Richie tries one last attempt to reason with the beast.

"Dr. Birkin, I'm a friend of hers from school, she is somewhere in the police station… I'm trying to find her…"

Dr. Birkin looks up at Richie, and the little humanity that the doctor had slowly begins to fade away.

"Sherry… Must find Sherry…"

In an instant the giant bloodshot eye stops spiraling and focuses on Richie, a loud growl erupts from the monster, and his right hand strikes upward, clutching Richie around the neck.

Richie drops his gun over the bridge following where the back pack fell, trying desperately to hold onto dear life as this creature squeezes. Standing up, Dr. Birkin holds up Richie, slowly chocking the life out of him. Richie begins to see spots.

_No, please, I'm trying to help your daughter, Please! _

Unable to say anything, Richie begins to fade slowly, but before he does, he sees one of the muscle tissues on the bone sticking out begin to slither out around the arm that is clutching him.

_I'm already hallucinating, next is death…Sorry Sherry…_

Giving up the struggle, Richie's arms fall to the side, when his left hand touches a familiar leather.

_The knife!_

One last hope of survival, Richie unbuckles the sheath and slowly draws out the knife. With one last burst of energy, Richie stabs the creature on the forearm, which causes the beast to let go, shrieking in pain.

Before Richie falls into the dark abyss, the muscle like tentacle lashes out and strikes Richie across the face, creating a large gash. Struck by the painful blow, Richie loses consciousness as he continues to plummet into the darkness.

Left with a reminder of the beast as it yells in anger, off into the far distance, startling a rookie cop, a mysterious woman in red, and Bertolucci, who hopes that Richie is still alive...


	5. Born Again

**Chapter 5: Born Again**

"Its Spring!"

Running out for recess, I feel the breeze welcoming me, the sun warming my very soul. I always get poetic during this time of year.

"Yo Richie! Wanna play a quick game? We need one more player."

Tony screams from across the basketball court.

"Nah Tony, not really up to it today."

Cussing me out under his breath, Tony asks Robert instead, who runs away screaming.

_Robert isn't much into sports is he?_

Today is perfect to just walk, and enjoy the weather.

Hmm, I wander what I should do for spring break? See if dad wants to...

Who's that across the field?

It's that Sherry kid. She's new and still has no friends. I think the girls are picking on her because of how quiet she is…

Well speak of the devils, here comes the herd now. I better get a closer look.

Sherry is sitting underneath the tree, and the group of girls are surrounding her like a pack of wolves ready for the kill.

"Hey Sherry, what you reading?"

_Oh no, its Natasha, the leader of the group._

Sherry looks up, unsure how to answer the question, since Natasha could obviously read the title.

"Oh so your not going to tell us? What, you think your too smart to be talking to us?" Lashes out one of the girls.

"Maybe her parents did another science experiment on her or something." Retorts another.

_Geese, girls can be so cruel_.

Sherry turns beet red from embarrassment.

"Watch out girls! She might explode!"

Few of the girls cover their faces. Natasha however, is stabbing Sherry with her icy glare.

"So are you gonna tell us what you're reading or what?" Sherry looks away embarrassed.

"HEY! Look at me when I'm talking to you, you freak!" Natasha smacks the book out of Sherry's hand.

The other girls take this as a queue and begin to slowly close in on her.

_Shit I better do something. _

Sherry looks up with sad eyes, yet says nothing. Never has anyone heard anything from her since she arrived here, even when the teacher calls on her, she doesn't respond with an answer, but somehow she has the highest grade in the class.

"I don't understand why your even here Birkin. Nobody even likes you. Why don't you go back to the science lab where you came from?"

The other girls are snickering at her abusive remark.

"Don't speak for me Natasha, I might not know her, but that doesn't mean I don't like her."

I had enough of their verbal abuse, time to step in.

"Stay out of this Richie, no one asked for your poor opinion." The other girls are eyeing me suspiciously, a few throwing a flirtatious smile.

I had to get a double take to make sure that they were really flirting with me when two seconds earlier they were harassing this poor girl.

"Like I give a rats ass what you think, you stuck up cow." Natasha rolls her eyes.

"Oh by the way, you have a piece of something in between your teeth, no wander Sherry looked away. I would have too."

Giving me the deer in the headlights look, Natasha walks off disgusted, with her hounds trailing behind. Pulling out her compact mirror, she sees my accusation and begins to shout at the other girls for not telling her sooner.

_Good riddance. _

I walk off to pick up the book that Sherry was so enthralled in.

"1984? That's a good book, one of my favorites."

Handing her the book, she takes a few moments before taking it, studying my face to see if I genuinely meant that. Feeling the sincerity, she takes it, and mumbles a quiet "thank you."

"Oh wow! So you can speak, I thought you were mute or something."

She looks away blushing a crimson red.

_She sure is shy._

I look off over the field and see a few faces looking in our direction, guess we're attracting a lot of attention. She is always alone, everywhere she goes, and everyone is scared to approach her. Her parents are the head scientists for Umbrella in the Raccoon City district, and stories float around about what they do, so its understandable to be afraid.

"You mind if I join you? This is a beautiful spot to sit and relax." Shocked that I want to sit next to her, her only response is scooting to the side to make room for me.

"Ooph"

Thinking the grass would soften my landing, my butt is met with a sharp rock instead. Tossing the stone to the side, I look out into the field and admire the view, yea this is the best spot to relax in this school.

Peering to the side, I notice that Sherry is watching me very intently, as if I might disappear at any moment and she wants to make sure that she catches my vanishing act. She has a sweet smell to her, like watermelon or something.

"I never introduced myself did I? My name is Richie."

Extending out my hand, she looks at me puzzled, _yea I know your name already_.

"Sherry" she replies and reluctantly takes my hand. Her hand is soft yet her handshake is firm and surprisingly warm.

All the girls hands that I've touched were always icy cold. I start to recount all the girls that I met…

"Umm…"

Coming back to reality, I see Sherry is looking at me weird, then looking down at her hand.

"Oops"

Releasing my grip, our hands slide off, feeling each others fingertips and a little shock at the end of it. Looking up at her to see if she felt it too, she locks eye contact with me and slowly takes back her hand, her face turning a deep shade of red.

We both look away, as I feel my face getting hot as well. Looking out toward the basketball courts, I see that Tony was able to convince Robert to play, who is trying to shoot but missing terribly.

"Richie?"

I feel my cheeks to make sure they aren't hot anymore, and turn to look at Sherry. The book is closed and is on her lap and she is twirling the side of her hair with her fingers.

"Umm... I just want to say thank you for stopping those girls, but you don't have to hang out with me if you don't want to." She looks up at me, and her eyes get bigger.

_Oh no, not the puppy eyes, please no. _

"Sherry, I meant what I said. Plus, anyone who reads one of my favorite books must be cool." She flashes me a little smile and looks away, twirling her hair even faster.

"Do you like ice cream?" I ask, trying to keep the conversation going.

She looks back, with a startled look.

"I love ice cream!"

_Wow she has lungs_

"After school I'm going to Mak's place, you probably know it as Emmy's Diner. He makes the best chocolate fudge ice cream. Want to come?"

She has a look of utter aww etched on her face.

"Ok, i'll go."

The bell rings, letting us know that its time to get back to class.

"Do you have to go home first to tell your parents or anything?"

She shakes her head as she gets up, "no, my parents are always at work and they don't come home till late, so they wont mind."

We make our way across the basketball courts, and Tony looks like he could murder someone.

"Lost the game Tony?" He looks up at me and mutters a few cuss words under his breath, and stomps off in the opposite direction. Chuckling, I look back to Sherry…

"Where did she go?" I look around the courts but shes managed to disappear on me. Looking back to where Tony was…

"He's gone too... Shit how am I late?"

Running toward the classroom, I open the door, expecting a tongue lashing, but instead I'm welcomed by a gruesome sight. Everyone in the class are zombies!

"NO!"

The word is out before I could stop it, and every head in the class turns to my direction, a few of them fall off and roll onto the floor. Turning around to run, the door is replaced with a brick wall, trapping me in here with these cannibals.

I feel a cold clammy hand on my shoulder and a loud snarl in my ear. Breaking free from the iron grasp, I run toward the corner, and face my captors... I'm surrounded.

Waiting for my fate, the zombified students don't move, their just standing there, watching me. Why aren't they eating me already? My face begins to burn again, yet this time it doesn't stop.

"Ughh" I fall onto my knees, the pain is so much. Feels like someone has a hot iron rod and is branding my face.

"UGHHHAAAHHHHH!"

I cant take this pain! Running toward the sink, I start to splash cold water on my face but now it feels like I'm drowning. Drowning in lava!

The pain is so much that I start to lose consciousness, and before I slowly fade out, I hear a low grumble in my ear...

"_Must… find… Sherry…_"

* * *

Richie's eyes dart open as he gulps in more sewer water. He tries to swim up, but the only thing breathing the air is his hands.

He looks down and sees that his leg is caught onto the shoulder strap of his backpack, and a sharp pain on the side of his left thigh.

"AGHH" Richie gargles as he touches the knife deep within his thigh.

Swimming down to untie the strap, he feels another pain, a burning sensation on his face. Finally undoing the strap, he half kicks his way back to the surface, gasping for breath as he breaches past the water and onto the side flooring.

Coughing up the remaining sewage, Richie looks around to see where he is. A square looking aqueduct of a place, and a small current flushing the water out through a small hole.

_If I wasn't anchored, I would have died for sure by that watery tunnel._

Looking back into the water, Richie sees his backpack under the murky water.

_Wheres my gun?_

Looking around, he is unable to find that familiar weapon. Lying down, he feels his face throbbing.

_Did Dr. Birkin hit me with that tentacle thing? _

Afraid of the answer, Richie refocuses on his leg. The large knife sits deeply, awaiting its next command. Richie slowly touches the knife but is met with a sharp pain.

_I need my medical kit. _

Sitting back up, Richie looks back toward his bag, and slowly dips his feet into the water. The cool water gives a slight relief to the pain. He is hanging on to the side with one hand and slowly prepares himself for the submerged mission.

Taking one final deep breath, Richie pushes himself down toward his bag, which isn't far.

Grabbing the bag, he makes his way back up but is held back. The weight of the bag is too heavy to lift.

_How did I carry this on my back the whole time? _

Losing air, he decides to first retrieve his medical kit, and come back later for the rest. Unzipping the top zipper, he digs his way around feeling for the kit. Looking around while he is fishing for his supplies, Richie spots his Beretta.

_Shit not near the vortex of death._

Looking around to see if there is a safe way to get his gun, he spots the shotgun lying not far.

_Patch my self up first, treasure hunt later._

Feeling the kit with his hand, he pulls it out and swims back toward the surface. Hoisting himself up to the side again, he sits carefully, so as not to deepen the knife any further. Unlocking the water proof seal, he opens the kit to the dry medical supplies.

_Lady luck is still on my side. _

Digging through, he finds the alcohol swabs, ready to disinfect. Taking out the small scissors, he delicately cuts his pants that is surrounding the wound. After finishing, he rips open an alcohol packet, and dabs around the wound, winching slightly at the burning pain. Throwing the swab behind him, he begins to unbuckle his belt and pulls it off his waist. Biting onto the leather, he slowly grasps the knife.

_Ok… One... Two-_

"AGGHHH!"

On two he pulls the knife out, impatient for the third count. Expecting a fountain of blood to erupt, he is astonished to see that nothing is coming out. Reaching for the hydrogen peroxide packet, he rips it open and places the moist napkin onto the wound.

Expecting the wound to bubble up, he sees nothing of the sort and wipes away at the wound, expecting the pain to return, yet again surprised that it feels fine.

_This is weird, I should be bleeding all over place. _

Testing his strength further, he stands up. Not feeling his legs protest, he begins to hop around.

_Hmm nothing. _

Looking at the knife, he sees his blood on the blade and begins to clean it with the napkin. The blade begins to fizzle out as the hydrogen peroxide cleans the blade.

_The blade must have been dirty after I stabbed Mr. Birkin._

Thinking of Mr. Birkin brings a sharp pain to Richie's face.

_Oh no. _

Wiping off the blade, Richie puts it up to his face and is horrified to see the reflection.

Above his left eye, trailing down to his right jaw, barely missing his eyes, sits a large gash. White puss outlines the gash and in the center lies his blood. The blood however, doesn't seem to want to ooze out. Slowly panicking, Richie reaches up and touches the brutal wound, feeling at the thick like texture of the blood.

_Why is my blood so… gooey?_

His zombified parents flash across his mind, reminding him that his fate is sealed.

"No… No I don't want to be like one of them…"

Looking back up from where he fell, Richie curses under his breath that of all people to infect him, it would be Sherry's dad.

_He wasn't a normal zombie though… Does that mean i'll be like him?_ _Maybe it will take time or something?_

Trying to rationalize the situation, Richie decides to continue forward.

_I'll go as far as my body will let me, and before I turn into a zombie... Then i'll be the one to end it._

Getting another peroxide wipe, Richie scrapes off the gooey blood and white puss, cleaning up his face so that he doesn't scare off any survivors. Looking back at the blade, he is satisfied.

_Now it looks like a big scar, I can live with that._

Closing up the kit, Richie leaps back up, surprised at his regained strength.

_Is it just me or am I getting stronger? _

Looking at his backpack, he dives into the water, and effortlessly pulls it off the ground. With air to spare, he walks toward his pistol and shotgun, unharmed by the strong current trying to suck him in.

_I can get used to this_.

Holstering his pistol and strapping the shotgun to his shoulder, Richie jumps up toward the surface. Grabbing onto the side, he pulls himself and the added weight with ease. Looking around, he spots a rusty door at the end of the walkway.

Making his way, Richie remembers the floppy disk in his vest pocket.

Opening the velcro to the pocket, he pulls out the floppy, and is relieved that Ben was right about the case. The floppy looks good and dry. Closing up the case, Richie puts it back in the vest pocket and continues his walk toward the door.

_With the limited time I have, I will find Sherry before her dad does, and if I see him... I will rip that eye right out of it's shoulder socket..._

An evil grin creeps onto Richie's face as he thinks of the different ways he is going to kill Sherry's father.

* * *

~**Hey everyone! It took me a while but here is the latest chapter. I would love to hear your reviews, see what you think. Hearing what you have to say about this story always puts a smile on my face =) **

**Next chapter is coming soon. **

**A.H**


	6. Woman in Red

**Happy New Year! As a way to kick start this great year, here is another chapter. Wish you all luck on your resolutions and stay safe when celebrating. Now, onto the next chapter! =)**

**Chapter 6: Woman in Red**

Richie stalks along the murky corridor, absorbing all the new sensations. Hearing the faintest sound of rats walking along, to crickets chirping from far away, all these harmonious sounds orchestrating together as if they were right next to him.

His eyesight has drastically improved, being able to see clearly in the dark.

_Good thing I can see a lot better now, since my light broke from the fall. _

Halting in his tracks, a feint smell of a minty herb blooms in the air. Looking around, Richie spots the small green herb growing in a crack far above him.

_I still have a couple first aid sprays in the medi-kit. _

Passing the opportunity, he continues onward. Satisfied with his sharp senses, Richie struts confidently a round the corner, when something catches his nose...

_Smells like… perfume? _

Looking around, he tries to hear any sudden movements, anything that could give away the perpetrator. Feeling uneasy, he withdraws his Beretta ready for any new surprises.

"Who ever you are, I know you're out there… I… I can smell your perfume."

Tired of the many surprises that he encountered throughout the night, Richie waits. Hearing footsteps behind him, Richie feels a cold metallic barrel of a gun touching the back of his neck, sending a tingling chill down his spine.

"If you could smell my perfume from so far away, then I'll remember not to spray so much next time."

Whispered the woman with a cool sensual voice into Richie's ear, sending a different shiver down his spine. Slowly turning around, Richie faces his captor, and tries to catch his falling jaw.

Before him is a young woman, with short black hair, and an elegant red cocktail dress.

"Who are you trying to impress? I doubt the zombies will spare you because of how pretty you look."

The words were out before he could stop them, and surprising the young woman, _did she blush? _

Before he could verify, her face resumes her sternness.

"What happened to your face? Did someone leave you a new beauty mark?" Still keeping her gun drawn and ready, Richie takes a minute to continue studying her face, and with his improved eyesight, he could see the tiny wrinkles on her forehead.

_She has been through a lot over the years hasn't she?. _

Lost in his train of thought, the young woman raises her gun to Richie's face, reminding him that she still has control of the situation.

"I'm only going to ask nicely one more time, what happened to your face?" For a nanosecond, Richie saw fear across her face, but like that short time, it disappears.

"I fell off a bridge running away from something bad, and when I regained consciousness, I saw this gash on my face."

Reading his face to make sure that his story checks out, the young woman lowers her gun and returns it to the holster.

"Alright, but just remember, I've got my eye on you."

_I could say the same thing about you miss red_.

"So, who are you and what are you doing way down here?" She inquires.

Everything that Richie has gone through flashes back, almost making him dizzy.

"Short story is that I'm here looking for a friend and together were going to escape… Oh, and my name is Richie. How about you?"

Richie turns around and continues his walk, with the young woman trailing behind.

"My name is Ada Wong, and I'm looking for someone as well."

_She's probably looking for her husband or boyfriend, woman who are this good looking always have someone in their life._

"Let me guess, you're looking for your boyfriend right?" Richie could hear her let out a small gasp.

"Yes I'm, his name is John. Have you seen him?"

Richie turns around to face her, her features brighten up as Richie made the lucky guess, but slowly they turn solemn as she reads Richie's face as he shakes his head.

"Sorry, the only living people I've run into are Ben Bertolucci and Chief Irons." Richie turns away, unable to see her sad face.

"I saw Ben… He's bit of an ass isn't he?"

A thin smile creeps along his face as he remembers the moment he shared with the journalist.

Feeling more relaxed, Richie holsters his gun.

"G_ruuummbblleeee…" _

The two stop in their tracks, Ada holds back a smile while Richie grasps his stomach in embarrassment as he realizes that he never had a chance to eat his snack, thanks to Dr. Birkin.

"Umm, if you don't mind, I'm going to grab a snack, would you like one too?"

Ada politely declines, keeping watch for anything suspicious in the vicinity. Richie throws his bag to the floor and fishes around for his snacks.

_Gross! They're all soggy… oh well, beggars cant be choosers… I would love to taste Ada, she looks delicious…_

"Ahem"

Ada gives a cough to bring Richie back to reality, who was caught staring at her well defined legs. Looking up, she is peering down on him with a foxy smile, knowing what juvenile thoughts were going through his mind.

_Get a grip Richie, she's too old for you. Remember why you're here, get your head together and lets go. _

Finding a granola bar that is semi soggy, Richie takes it out and throws his gear back on, trying to ignore the person behind him.

"I have to ask, how did you make it all this way?" Curious as to how such a teenager could have made it this far in such a hellish place.

Richie munches on the soft granola, thinking of the best answer.

"Luck."

He spits out, along with a few bits of granola chunks. Ada quickly walks past him, emphasizing each step with sexual energy.

_She is doing that on purpose, does she enjoy torturing young men? _

Trying to change the dirty thoughts that are buzzing around in his head, "how about you Ada? How did you make it this far?"

Turning a corner, they both continue their stroll along the sewage.

"Luck."

Richie chuckles to the response, _of course. _

"_Pit pat pit pat pit pat…"_

Richie stops in his tracks, knowing what that sound is, Ada however seems to have missed it. Slowly drawing out his Beretta Richie strains his ears for another giveaway yet hears nothing.

"Ada… Don't move…"

Obeying her orders, she halts, with her hands at the side, ready.

"_Pit pat pit pat pit pat…"_

Dropping from above, Richie spots the hairy beast, falling right above Ada, and with quick reflexes, Richie pushes her out of the way, yet is taken himself.

"RUN!"

Screams Richie as he is held tight by the eight legged freak, being reeled back up toward the darkness. Ada strains to see where Richie has gone too, aiming her gun.

Richie struggles to get his arm free, slowly maneuvering his weapon upward toward the chest of the giant spider. Ada fires a shot and hits one of the eyes of the creature, giving off a blood curling scream, yet still holding tightly to Richie.

Finally getting his gun into position, he unloads the clip into the chest, receiving a shower of blood in the process. With an empty clip, Richie reaches for his knife, yet is interrupted with one more shot from Ada, who nails the creature once more in the crown.

Defeated, the spider falls onto the cement floor, with Richie on top. Trying to catch his breath, Richie looks up and sees Ada offering her hand to help him up.

"Thanks for the help, you're a good shot," t_oo good._

Taking her hand, Richie gets back onto his feet, wiping the blood with his shirt.

"I should be thanking you; if you didn't push me out of the way then I wouldn't be here right now."

Richie stops cleaning his face, hoping that the blood will cover up his blushing face.

_I finally saved someone, finally I'm useful. _

"_Pit pat pit pat pit pat…"_

Looking up, he sees a horde of creepy crawlers coming toward them.

"We will continue our discussion later, as of now, we have company."

Pulling her hand, together they run down the corridor, looking for some sort of exit. Turning a corner, they nearly crash into a metal door. Prying it open, Richie ushers Ada in, as he reloads his gun, watching the small army of spiders approaching.

Ada pulls him and closes the door. Turning around they see a large aqueduct of a room, and a flight of stairs on the other side. Running toward the stairs, bubbles within the murky pool begin to erupt, halting the two in their tracks.

_Shit now what?_

Guns at the ready, they wait for whatever evil will come out. Ada slowly walks toward the stairs.

"Whatever this is, I don't want to be around to find out, c'mon." Richie begins to follow suit.

_Almost there, c'mon we can do it… _

The room begins to quake and breaching from the water is a reptilian monster, roaring his authority to all those who trespass into his domain.

"OH COME ON! I WAS ONLY JOKING ABOUT THE GIANT ALLIGATOR!"

Shouts Richie toward the heavens, recalling the joke he made before he met Dr. Birkin.

"Richie! Lets go!"

Ada demands as she runs toward the stairs but is cut off by the reptilian tail. Firing two shots into the blockade, she ducks as it swings above her.

_Richie, you have to distract that thing while Ada escapes then you can too. _

Taking off his gear, Richie readies himself, "Richie what are you doing?!" Ada yells as she fires another two shots.

"I'm going to distract him, and that will give you enough time to escape! Don't worry I'll be right behind you!"

Before she could protest to his ridiculous plan, Richie dives into the water, swimming toward the gator. Seeing his prey coming toward him, the gator submerges, ready for another assault,

"ADA GO NOW!"

Taking one last look, Ada gives a small nod and runs up the stony steps, finally out of sight.

_Alright you bastard, lets see what you got!_

Diving under, he sees the creature swimming toward him, mouth ready to attack. Richie, draws out his knife and stabs the top of the jaw of the beast, causing it to trash violently, almost tearing Richie's arms off as he continues to hold tightly.

_Shit what do I do now? I didn't think this far into the plan… Well Mr. Hero, now what? _

The gator submerges itself deeper in the water, trying to drown its passenger. Richie takes in his surroundings.

_I'm at the bottom, it would be a bad idea to swim back up from here. _

The creature stops thrashing, and soon comes up with a new plan. Richie notices the calmness of the gator and begins to worry.

_Is he hatching up a plan? _

Without hesitation, the gator swims towards the wall, slamming his face against it, hoping that it killed the young boy in the process. Narrowly escaping, Richie floats behind the beast and begins to swim up.

Realizing that his prey is gone, the gator sees Richie swimming away and gives chase. Nearing the top, Richie looks down and sees how close the monster is to him, mouth wide ready for another attempt.

Continuing his upward ascent, Richie reaches out to grab the edge of the stone ledge and hoists himself up, barely getting nicked by the beast. Diving back under, the gator begins another attempt.

_I wont be around to give him that chance. _

Running toward the steps, Richie picks up his gear and continues his run. Breaching the water, the gator gives out a trembling roar, which shakes the underground dungeon. Ignoring its death threat, Richie runs up the steps and sees a metallic door on the other side.

Breaking it open, he shuts it behind him, gun drawn ready for anymore surprises.

"_THUD… THUD… THUD…" _

A final roar, the gator submerges back into the murky depths. Feeling relieved to have escaped, Richie collapses, laughing at his fortunate escape, and a hand greets him on the shoulder.

"Ada, I'm glad you escaped. I don't-"

Turning around he is met with a gruesome sight!

"AGHH!"

A disembodied figure in a police uniform has come to greet Richie, drawing near to his neck to feast upon his succulent flesh. With his gun ready, Richie aims it point blank at the poor soul, firing one shot into the head. Looking around Richie finds himself in a small room, full of zombies, all coming for him.

_Where's Ada? Did she make it ok?_

Getting back up to his feet, Richie looks around at the vicious group who continue to close in on him.

_Better take care of these creeps before I set off to find her._

Taking out his shotgun, Richie begins to unload onto the hoard, de-stressing from his previous encounter.

As more and more zombies meet their demise, canvassing the room with crimson blood, Richie begins to fantasize of the woman in the red dress, letting his mind wander into forbidden territory of the sexual and mysterious...


	7. Tumbling Deeper into the Rabbit Hole

**Hey Everyone! Here is another chapter, and to answer Kumo Ito's question, I'm going by the original game. Thanks for the positive reviews and enjoy this thrilling chapter! =D**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Tumbling Deeper into the Rabbit Hole**

****"Ugh… Where could she be?"

Richie sighs as he continues to wander the dark corridors.

_I know I have been here before… Great I'm lost._

It has been a couple hours since that mysterious encounter with Ada, and Richie is beginning to lose the scent of her erotic perfume. Continuing his stroll, he finds a decapitated zombie on the floor.

_I have been going in circles! I killed this guy already!_

Frustration growing, Richie kicks the severed head across the corridor, exploding upon contact against the wall. Halting in his tracks, Richie looks around.

_Did someone say something?_

Refilled with new hope, Richie marches on, straining his ears for the slightest murmur. Walking past the door that he has gone through before, the voices begin to get louder, _there are two!_

Turning a corner, he is face to face with a large metallic door, _they are on the other side… Sounds like they are having an argument. _

Slowly opening the gate, the door creeks in protest.

_Shhh shut up shut up._

Entering another room filled mostly with water and a metal beam in the middle, Richie sees two women fighting on the platform above.

_Ada! Wait… isn't that Sherry's... Mom?! _

Before he could say anything, Ada knocks over Mrs. Birkin over the railing, sending her flying to the water below. Stunned, Richie runs toward the landing, dumping his gear to the side and diving in to save her.

_I'll help her first then catch up to Ada later. _

With his improved strength, Richie grabs Mrs. Birkin like a rag doll and quickly makes his ascent to the surface. Slowly lowering her to the ground, she coughs and hacks up the remaining water in her lungs.

"Thank you for saving me, I must go and stop that woman."

Looking up, she is shocked to see the young boy staring back at her, "Richard?"

Richie winces at the sound of his proper name.

"Mrs. Birkin it's Richie, and what were you and Ada arguing about?"

With the mention of Ada's name, Sherry's mother draws her weapon on Richie.

"How do you know her? Are you two working together? Are you too trying to steal the G-virus sample too? That's why you got close to Sherry isn't it? Answer me!"

Richie throws his hands up, speechless that he is being accused of such random things, _crazy bitch! What is it with Sherry's parents trying to kill me?!_

"Mrs. Birkin! I just met her, and I'm here looking for Sherry! She said that she would be in the police station and I got lost in here."

Dr. Birkin looks at Richie hesitantly, unsure of his motives, "what happened to your face?"

_Geese again with my face!_

"Your husband did this to me! All I'm trying to do is save Sherry but you people just keep getting in my way!"

Before he could go on his rant, horror strikes her face, "you saw William? Did he hit you?! Tell me what happened exactly!"

Lowering his hands, Richie eyes the weapon aimed at him, which doesn't sway the mad woman, who is so transfixed with the scar across his face.

"Ugh, if I tell you, will you help me find Sherry?"

Mrs. Birkin lowers her weapon, slowly regaining her composure, and nods slowly to his request.

"I found Mr. Birkin, or rather he found me near the sewers right below the police station, and before I fell off the platform, this tentacle thing struck me across the face… When I came around, I noticed that my blood became gooey and I have been getting stronger."

A slight burn smears across his face as he recalls the incident, "How long ago did this happen?"

She asks calmly, a small smile looming on her face.

"Umm, about four or five hours ago, not sure to be honest."

Hearing the time frame, she gets up and turns away, muttering to herself, "_that's impossible, the virus should have killed him. How could he be getting stronger? There must have been a mutation when he became infected…This needs further investigation…_"

"Mrs. Birkin I can hear you, does this mean that it isn't normal for me to be ok?"

Turning around, she tries to hide her excitement, "I'm not sure, but let's hurry and we can find out."

Strolling off toward the metallic door, Richie follows behind, strapping on his gear. _Something is off, be on your toes Richie._

"Mrs. Birkin, are you going to help me find Sherry too?"

Passing though the door and into the corridors, she stops to look around for her next path out.

"Oh, someone else is already taking care of her, another woman I ran into is helping Sherry, so you don't have to worry about it for the time being. Let us take a look at you and after we will continue our search for Sherry."

Without looking back to Richie, she decides on her course of action and continues down a different corridor that Richie missed.

_How can she tell me all this and not have a hint of concern for her daughter? Man, when I find her, I will be the one to take care of her, no one else…_

Walking cautiously, Richie's uneasiness begins to fester, _something is definitely wrong here, but what? Mrs. Birkin seems more excited about me being infected than finding her own daughter…_

"Richard, you say that your strength has gone up? What else has improved?"

Wincing at his name, Richie sighs, _how many times do I have to correct this lady? The sooner I get this done, the sooner I can find Sherry. _

"Besides strength, my senses have gotten sharper. Also, my injuries heal so much faster…"

Chuckling, Dr. Birkin continues down the corridor, into a dead end.

_Great, we're lost again, and now I'm stuck with this crazy lady._

Before he could question her sanity, Dr. Birkin reaches up and touches a stone that sits on the wall, followed by the sound of a click. Standing back, the wall begins to rumble and vibrate as it slowly opens up into a metallic corridor, _wow…_

Ushering him inside, she pushes a switch to close the secret portal.

"This is a secret shortcut to the lab, its safe and we will get there faster."

She boasts, revealing a toothy grin. As they continue their walk, Richie is both awed and angry at Umbrella, while everyone suffers the hell that they have unleashed, they have their own exits, to continue their research, their maniacal plot for power.

"You said another woman is helping Sherry, does that mean she isn't in the police station anymore?"

Mrs. Birkin shakes her head, "no she isn't. William was chasing her and eventually she made it to the sewers. The young woman seemed more than capable to protecting Sherry, yet I just pray that they don't run into William, especially as the virus continues to evolve…They wouldn't stand a chance."

_Please Sherry, be alive, let me find you alive…_

A gnawing feeling resurfaces, "why is Mr. Birkin going after Sherry?"

Stopping in her tracks, she looks down, avoiding to look at the young boy in the eyes, "because he wants to spread the virus... Someone who is infected with the G-virus can do so by inserting the embryo into another host… the only way for it to be successful is to have a genetic match and Sherry shares that genetic trait. How you are still alive still-"

"HE IS GOING TO HAVE SEX WITH HIS OWN DAUGHTER!"

Richie explodes, unable to hold in his anger, _this is beyond sick!_

"It doesn't bother you that your husband is on a rampage to find and impregnate his daughter with a virus that you both created?! How could you let this happen!? How-"

Turning around and throwing her hands onto Richie's shoulders, she meets his volume of anger.

"You think I like this?! Knowing that my husband is after my only daughter?! I'm putting my faith into that woman, who seems to have made it this far! My number one priority right now is to save you! Save you so you can help me save my daughter…"

She tightens her grip around Richie and slowly tears begin to fall. Not knowing what to do, Richie brings her in closer, letting her release her emotions.

_I hope your right Mrs. Birkin… I hope your right…_

Looking up, she wipes away her tears, revealing puffy eyes that seem to have missed days worth of sleep, _she is trying her best…Alright, ill help her first then we can find Sherry together._

Putting his hand on her shoulder, she smiles weakly and nods of his reassurance. They continue their journey toward the Umbrella laboratory, drawing nearer to the exit.

Seeing a shinny metallic door, Richie watches as Dr. Birkin pulls out a key, opening the door to reveal an elevator.

"This is one of the emergency elevators. If anything were to happen, take it to the lowest level, where there are emergency evacuation transports, they can get you out of here."

Nodding to the instructions, Richie walks into the ominous elevator as Dr. Birkin walks over to the control panel and begins to input a few commands, followed by a twist of the key and the elevator begins its descent to the 4th floor.

_Experiment room? _

Reading Richie's thoughts, "the few capsules left to hold the vaccine are in the experimenting room, and we need it to help cure you. I believe there is one in the Vam room as well but it's surely over run with infected."

Feeling a bit relieved, Richie leans against the wall as the elevator continues its descent deeper into the laboratory from hell.

"Is there a vaccine made already?"

Dr. Birkin looks away, masking her emotions, Richie catches a quick smirk, yet disappears before he could realize his suspicions.

"No, we will have to make one and in order to do that we need to retrieve a sample of your blood and use it with the creation program, there it will create a vaccine… Don't worry, everything will be fine."

The last statement left a chill, unable to shake the weird feeling that continues to haunt Richie's bones, he swivels his thumb around the handle of his knife, trying to reassure himself that everything will be alright.

_Something bad is going to happen but what?_

_"Bing"_

The elevator has reached its destination, slowly opening the doors, inviting whatever lurks outside. Welcoming the two are surveillance monitors, all over the wall, showing only static.

"Come, we're almost there."

Walking at a fast pace, Dr. Birkin walks toward the door with a letter "B" over it.

"Where are we?"Richie continues to gawk at the vast metallic room.

"This is the C-2 Hangar, surveillance for the fourth level. In order to ensure optimal safety, we have these rooms in every level."

Swiping her card, the door retracts upward, revealing a metallic hallway. Continuing onward, Richie cant help but be amazed of the complexity of the whole situation. There must have been severe mistakes and mishaps to cause such a mess that happened in Raccoon City.

_If there is this much security then how could there be such a disaster? How?_

Arriving at the end of the corridor, Richie can smell rotting flesh combined with rotten eggs, a horrific smell that almost causes him to gag.

"Don't worry we aren't going that way."

Making a left turn, Richie sees a large vault looking door with the words written largely above, "P-4 laboratory." Taking out her card, Dr. Birkin swipes it again, releasing the locking mechanism and inviting them in.

Briskly walking inside, they enter another room to the right, where the door automatically opens to their presence. Lying on the floor is a dead scientist, deep within its slumber.

Quietly tip toeing to the next room, a few more bodies sit on the floor. At the end of the room, sits a large fax looking machine.

"Grab a chair and meet me over there, I have to grab a few things for this to work."

She instructs before she walks off toward a cabinet. Looking around, Richie spots a comfortable looking chair and brings it near the machine. Unloading his equipment, Richie sheds the extra weight, slightly relieved that he can finally get better.

_Do I really want to lose the extra strength and all the cool perks I got? If it means not worrying about turning into Mr. Birkin then hell ya! _

Chuckling to his good fortune, Mrs. Birkin returns, looking both nervous and excited at the same time.

"Richard, before I do this, I have to warn you… There is a large chance that this might not work, I have never seen the virus act like it does with you, so adding anything different might be fatal… Do you still want to do this?"

Richie closes his eyes, remembering every minute that he endured throughout the day, remembering who he's fighting for. He promised that he would stay alive not only for the family but for Sherry as well.

_I have come so far and ill be damned to let this virus beat me now... _

"I'm ready…"

Looking up to Dr. Birkin, she begins begins to tighten a plastic band around his arm. Reaching into her lab coat, she pulls out a gun, only it has a large needle at the end of it.

"Since your blood is very thick, we will need to use something more heavy duty, it will be painful, but I think you can handle it."

Closing his eyes, Richie turns his head and tries to relax into the chair.

_Great, I fight zombies and other ugly things and this needle is scaring me the most…_

"Here I go…"

Feeling a sharp pain on his arm, Richie feels a hot sensation on the injection, as the needle begins to suck up blood. Feeling his whole body shrivel up in the process, Richie clenches his fist, trying to fight the feeling of extreme vertigo.

Feeling the large needle exit, he opens one eye to see the mess, yet disappointingly sees nothing.

"Sit tight Richard, the worst part has yet to come."

She remarks as she takes out the capsule of the deep red. Trotting toward the machine, she glances back to Richie who nauseously sits in the chair, his back toward her.

Before Inserting the capsule into the machine she pulls out something from within her blouse, a small necklace, just the same as Sherry's. Opening it she is greeted by a family photo of the two loves in her life, smiling down she opens a secret compartment, reveling two small vials.

Taking them out with great care, she looks back at Richie who is still slumped over, trying to recover his equilibrium. Turning toward the machine, she brings out an empty vial and mixing the two liquids into it, and placing the concoction into the machine. Imputing the commands, she takes a moment to look at the picture of her family, of her husband.

Pushing go, the machine roars to life and begins the process. Turning back to Richie, she puts her hand onto his shoulder and marvels at the young boy, the boy who's genetic makeup was able to handle the G-virus.

Powering down, the creation machine comes to a halt and opens up its glass door to the newly created virus. A deep vibrant shade of orange, Dr. Birkin reinserts it into the gun, ready for injection. Walking over to face Richie, she kneels down to the floor, looking into the boys eyes.

"Richard… Once I do this, there is no turning back… Are you sure that you want this?"

Richie slowly comes back, still feeling a little nauseous but has recovered all the same.

"Yes, anything to save Sherry."

With a pang of guilt, Dr. Birkin injects the needle and slowly pours the poisonous liquid inside him, slowly hoping that this boy is the key to the evolutionary jump that her husband was working so hard for. Richie could feel the cold liquid spread throughout his body, soothing his tired muscles. She pulls out the needle once it is empty.

_What was she talking about? This feels amazing…_

Looking up, he sees Dr. Birkin backing away slowly as she draws out her pistol, worry and excitement etched onto her face.

"Richard, remember, Sherry already has someone protecting her… She wont need you anymore… And as for the virus…"

Richie grows concerned as the she continues to back away, shielding herself behind a large desk. Before he could question her, the cool feeling he was experiencing begins to grow hot, replacing his veins with lava.

Richie begins to groan as he falls onto the floor, unable to handle such pain, _its like in my dream only worse… What did she do?_

"Richard, I'm sorry… You are the only one who has adapted to the virus and this was the only opportunity I had to push it further. All of the work that William has done falls onto this one moment… The next evolutionary jump!"

Richie's body begins to convulse, contorting in ways that should break his bones.

"ARGHHHH!"

Richie screams as he feels his muscles rip and tear, muscle fibers shredding from the new viruses.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!"

He yells out, fighting with all his will to stay conscious. Feeling courageous, Dr. Birkin slowly walks toward the convulsing boy,

"I inserted two other viruses within you, the T-virus and T-Veronica virus…I was able to get a sample… Months and months of promises, bribes and arm twisting, I finally got a small sample of the T-Veronica… It was a gift for William, to help him get that next push for human evolution… Richard, I'm sorry... but this is for the greater good of mankind."

She continues to study her experiment, observing the changes in his skin, as his muscles shred to pieces, leaving black bruises all over his body.

_When I was so close…No! I didn't come all this way to die!_

"ARRGGHHHHH!"

Richie continues to fight the pain, hoping to go unconscious but his body wont let him, in some cruel way he must endure this pain, endure it and maybe then he might die.

This torturous torment continues to ravage his body, twisting his limbs beyond human capacity. His heart racing at an alarming rate, Richie feels all the heat burning into his eyes. The excruciating pain sends sudden jolts to his body as he tries to fight his way toward Dr. Birkin, but no amount of willpower will help him move.

"The virus has affected the corneas and pupils, causing them to become more serpent like, further observation will entail what else might change as the subject continues to undergo muscle tissue decomposition."

Richie struggles to open his burning eyes, yet manages to see Dr. Birkin talking to a tape recorder, documenting his slow painful death. Slowly feeling his life draining, Richie struggles less and less to the pain, as he prepares himself for death.

_I'm sorry…_

"AHHH!"

Richie can hear Dr. Birkin screaming, followed by a few gunshots. Barely opening his eyes, he can see a small group of dead scientists trying to feast on her.

"Get away!"

Firing a couple more shots, she runs toward the door, taking a moment to look back and mutter something into the tape recorder, Richie couldn't hear her last words.

Lying alone in a cold room, drowning in his own infected blood, Richie feels lighter as he drifts in and out of consciousness, finally able to let go of the hell that almost engulfed him...


	8. Familiar Acquaintances

**Hi everyone! Here is another chapter and also, your reviews have actually sparked many ideas of where I can take this story and its really exciting! To answer Gasanechi's question, the rating isnt going to change. Ill make sure to write it in a way that its still ok to read.**

**Also, here is a little heads up... This whole story is just a prelude to something bigger, and currently in the works of writing a bigger story, one that will involve so many more RE characters =) So your reviews are actually really helpful, so many ideas and ways we can shape this...**

**So, hope you enjoy this epic chapter!**

**P.S. Three days ago it was the 15th anniversary of RE 2! Random but cool none the less =p**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Familiar Acquaintances**

"_Richie… What happened to you?" _

Even unconscious, the angelic whisper had reached him, barely hanging on the fine thread of life. The painful heat still smolders within his body, as the embers of the newly developed viruses have finally taken over his body, completely changing the young boy into something…monstrous.

Falling in and out of consciousness, Richie catches small glimpses of his surroundings, as they continue to change, hearing muffled whispers and gunshots here and there, unable to comprehend what is going on.

_I'm still… alive…How?_

Before seeing his savior, Richie succumbs to the darkness once again.

Trapped within the confines of his mind, Richie is transported to a place where he finds solitude from the world, a place that he escapes to when the world begins to overwhelm him.

Lying on a wooden bench, underneath a tall oak tree, Richie looks up into the familiar greenery, listening to the crashing waves below. Turning his head, he admires the cliff side ocean view and the deep orange sun setting in the horizon.

Feeling the breeze massage his face, Richie closes his eyes and allows the warm sun radiate across his body, soothing his tired muscles. Finally able to relax, a smile grows on Richie's face, finally able to let go of all the worries that consumed him.

"If I'm dying, I'm happy that I get to end it here…"

Sitting up, he continues to gaze out onto the horizon, listening to the symphony of waves sooth his tired soul.

"Your giving up already son?"

Startled by that familiar voice, Richie looks back, trying to keep his emotions from erupting. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

Richie's father smiles warmly to his son, making his way toward the bench.

"What happened? You calling it quits already? That's not like you to give up so easily."

Richie looks away, ashamed of what happened, _it seems that every time I try to help someone it only backfires in my face. _

"Dad… I lost… Sherry's mom infected me with two other viruses and I think it killed me…"

Looking up to his father, he sees the warmth in his eyes, assuring his son that he hasn't lost yet.

"Richie… I'm proud of you son… You have done so much with such terrible circumstances… You kept believing in yourself and that has propelled you very far… And if you believe that you're done… then you are right…You are what you believe to be…I love you son and I just want you to know that your mother and I still believe you can do it…"

Tears begin to swell up as Richie tries to hold them back.

"Dad, I don't know what to do!? I keep trying but all these obstacles keep holding me back! I don't-"

Richie's father embraces his sobbing son, letting him cry out his pain and sorrow.

"Richie, it's not your time to die right now… You still have so much to do in life, so much to accomplish… Here is my final lesson for you…No matter what life throws at you, no challenge big or small will stop you and you know why?"

Richie looks up to see his dad smiling down on him.

"Because Richie, as long as you continue to believe in yourself and believe that you do it, then no challenge big or small will stop you… That is something we all tend to forget when life has beaten us down... You just have to get back up and fight back… Keep moving forward and fight back… You can do it son… I know you can… You just have to know that you can too."

Richie embraces his father, feeling the warmth of his body and whiffing the familiar scent of after shave that his father loved to put on.

"Thank you..."

Opening his eyes, Richie sees an unfamiliar room, filled with lockers, bulletin boards and other assortment of desk appliances.

_Where am I?_

Feeling a tight pressure around his body, Richie sees that he is all bandaged up, _who saved me?_

Continuing his investigation around the room, he spots his savior, slumped on a chair, facing the entrance, gun drawn and bleeding slowly, unconscious from the world.

"Ada!"

Unresponsive, Richie tries to get up but his muscles protest, spreading pain to stop his movement.

_No! I have to save her! _

Taking a deep breath, he struggles to get up, ignoring the growing pain in his body.

Finally on his feet, he slowly gets up, only to fall onto the floor, _Shit… C'mon body! Help me out here! _

Crawling his way to the dying woman, Richie pulls himself up with the help of the chair near by and begins his second attempt to walk. Staggering here and there, he regains his balance and slowly shuffles toward her.

Looking at the wound, she has a large gaping hole in her abdomen, "Shit, Ada stay with me, ill save you."

Looking around he begins to look for his gear, yet only sees his vest and torn up clothes, _there must be a medical kit in this room…_

Looking at the lockers, he starts to slowly walk towards the nearest one. Opening it to reveal only spare clothes.

_C'mon there has to be one here. _

Opening the next one, he sees only a poster pinup of a beautiful woman, smiling confidently back at him, _nothing. _Opening the next one, he finds more spare clothing.

Ada gurgles and coughs up more blood on the floor, frustration continues to build up as Richie frantically attempts to open the next locker which is locked.

_No! I have to save her!_

Unable to hold back his anger, he punches the locker, breaking the door inward, and sending a sharp pain to his hand. Ignoring the pain, he rips open the door to reveal a reflection of someone that he has never seen before.

Skin pale with purple bruises infecting his skin, he sees a sickly looking man, with deep red eyes and slits for pupils looking back at him. Hair gone, Richie is awestruck to see of what he has become, the monster looking back at him nervously assessing who the intruder is.

Frozen to the sight of his infected body, he punches the mirror, trying to forget what he saw but sadly the image has been tattooed into this brain.

_Mrs. Birkin… why…_

Looking down he spots a medical kit, ready to save a life. Picking up the kit he makes his way back toward the small cot, the pain of his movements slowly fading away, finally adapting to the movement of its host.

Richie sets up, ready for any kind of operation. Walking back to Ada, he takes the gun out of her hand and sets it on the table and slowly scoops up the poor woman who continues to fade away from the world.

"_Leon..." _

She whispers as Richie gently sets her onto the cot, straightening out her body.

_Wander who this Leon guy is… I hope to meet him one day if he made such an impression on her. _

Looking at the wound, he unbuckles her belt and takes it off, then takes out the small surgical scissors and slowly cuts her dress across her stomach, and delicately pulls up the fabric to reveal her soft tender skin. Richie sees her shallow breaths and continues the procedure, _please Ada, stay alive…_

Closer inspection on the wound, he sees the familiar puss, yet the blood isn't thick like how it was for him.

_She's infected… I need to make an antidote for her…_

Taking out a hydrogen peroxide wipe from its packet, he slowly dabs the infected skin, causing it to sizzle from the virus. Ada winces at the pain and looks up to Richie, sweat drenching her face.

"Hey stranger."

She tries to smile but pain overtakes her expressions.

"Ada… what happened to you? I hope you didn't get hurt because of me…"

She looks up at him, finally able to sketch a small smile, "of course not, this was from being careless earlier… Hows it look?"

Richie looks into her eyes and is marveled that she isn't afraid of his transformation. _Ada… I will do whatever I can to save you…_

"Umm, its not that bad… I didn't know you had a six pack."

She chuckles at his comment, followed by a few coughs of blood.

"Ada, don't stress yourself out too much. I'm going to fix this."

She takes his hand and squeezes it gently, "hey… Don't worry about me handsome… Your safe now, so get out of here and live for the both of us…"

Tears begin to roll down Richie's cheeks.

"No Ada… I'm not leaving here without you… You saved my life again… I'm going to do whatever I can to save yours… Count on it."

Releasing her grip, he gets another peroxide wipe and finishes up any remaining puss. Finding a surgical sewing kit, he begins to repair the torn skin.

"Richie… Thank you…"

Before he could respond, she drifts off to a deep sleep. Finishing up the last touches to the patch job, he covers it with a large bandage and begins to wrap her body.

Pulling the fabric of her dress back over, he sits there, watching her sleep, wiping away the sweat on her forehead.

She smiles with the contact of his hand, _hang tight Ada…I'll be back._

Standing up, he feels no more tension or pain and begins to make his way to his clothes. _Hmm, torn…_

Going to the lockers, he takes off the bandages and notices that most of the bruises have gone away as his complexion returns back to normal. Looking down on his naked body, he sees that his muscles have rebuilt themselves, and he seems to have grown in height as well.

_Well, I guess I finally got my growth spurt…_

Looking into the shattered mirror, he only sees the snake like eyes gazing back at him, _Umbrella is going to pay for what they did…_

Controlling the growing anger, he begins to dress, putting on a pair of old jeans, and dirtied white shirt. Finding a pair of socks, he makes his way back to his shoes and laces up.

Strapping on his knife and body vest, he checks his ammo, _looks like she took some… Ada…_

Reloading his Beretta, he holsters the familiar gun and is ready to face whatever Umbrella has in store for him.

Walking toward the door, he takes one last look back at his savior,_ "_be back soon…"

Walking out he sees a large bottomless pit in front of him, with railing to stop anyone from jumping over. To the sides, he see metallic chains and above a ceiling that seems to have the capabilities of moving.

_This looks like a large elevator. _

Looking around, he spots a corridor and quickly trots toward it. Opening the door, he enters a large room, that stretches far up and down, encircled with a large shaft in the middle. Entering the large shaft he sees a locking mechanism in the middle and two other paths, marked with a red and blue lighting.

_East wing? Lets check there first._

Running toward the door, something stops him in his tracks, a small clicking sound of something walking above him.

_Nothing is standing in my way! _

Spotting a ladder near the wall, Richie jumps to it and begins his ascent toward the noise. The clicking gets faster then suddenly stops. Richie makes it to the next level up and draws his gun out at the ready. Keeping still, he hears a low growl above, looking up he sees a horrific creature.

Peering down on him is a skinless muscular creature, with an exposed pulsating brain, and large sharp claws, ready to tear its next victim.

_Another one of Umbrella's pets huh? _

Pointing the gun at the brain, he studies the smooth movements of the demon, as it opens its jaws to reveal sharp razor like teeth, _that sure is one long tongue. _

Pulling the trigger, Richie hits the creature squarely in the brain which sends it screeching to the floor. Keeping the gun pointed, the creature convulses on the floor and lays dead,_ that was easy. _

Turning around to head back down, Richie is knocked onto the floor as something heavy sits on top of him. Turning around he grasps the neck of the monster just in time before it bit through his face. Reaching around for his gun, he is disappointed to find nothing, and instantly reaches for his knife, all the while being gashed at from the large talons. Stabbing the chest, he kicks the beast off, leaving his knife with the creature.

_Shit what do I do? _

Thrashing about, the licker tries to throw off the knife, but its wedged in deeply. Calming down, the licker begins to whip out its tongue in hopes to cut down the young man, managing to cut Richie's arm.

_Shit, the tongue is sharp too! _

Taking a deep breath, Richie calms his mind down and is able to slow everything around him,_ stay calm Richie, you got this. _

The whip like tongue strikes again, yet this time, Richie can see it very clearly, as it seems to be moving a lot slower.

_Is it getting slower… Or am I getting faster?_

Easily dodging the attack, Richie grabs the tongue, cutting his hand in the process, yet has a good grasp on the monster, who thrashes about, trying to break free. Pulling with all his strength, the licker flies toward Richie, jaws open for a bite.

With his improved reflexes, Richie slides underneath and withdraws his knife, causing a gush of blood to rain down on him, and leaps back up ready for another attack. The licker screeches violently as it continues to bleed profusely.

Rage boiling, the creature lunges blindly at Richie,_ big mistake… _

Side stepping toward the licker's shoulder blade, Richie wraps his arm around the neck and stabs multiple times on the top of the brain, causing it to convulse violently. Unable to grab Richie, it shoots out its tongue again, yet Richie sensed its next course of action way in advance.

Stabbing the head toward the floor, the razor sharp teeth slices though the tongue, cutting it off before it reaches Richie.

Giving off a final screech, it lies still on the floor, finally dead.

Withdrawing the knife and wiping it on his jeans, Richie sheaths the blade and steps back to admire his kill,_ I'm definitely stronger than before… _I wander- collapsing to the floor, Richie clutches his chest as a surging pain shoots across his whole body. Convulsing violently, he coughs up large amounts of blood.

_What the hell?! _

As instant as the pain came, it disappears, reminding its host of the battle within.

_What was that all about? I guess I'm still recovering…_

Looking at his body, Richie is shocked that all the damage he took is gone, _interesting..._

Getting back up, he takes one more look at the dead creature,_ it's a good thing there was only one. _

Walking toward his gun, he sees it sitting by the similar door as below with a blue light above_. _

_"Click click click click…" _

Frozen in his tracks, Richie looks up and sees an army of lickers, all growling with hunger, ready to avenge their fallen brother.

_Of course there are more, other wise it would have been too easy… _

Without hesitating, Richie darts toward his gun, and at that instant, it begins to rain Lickers as they descend toward him. Quickly holstering his gun, he opens the door and dives in, shutting quickly behind him, followed by a piercing screech on the other side.

Looking back, he sees a long piece of tongue wiggling on the floor, cut off from its host, _that was close._

Walking away from the scratching of the door, Richie reads in large blue letters, "East Wing," and below is a door with the sign, "Shaft Type-M,"

_This could be it!_

Reaching for the handle, disappointment quickly erases the little hope that he had, _shit now what?_ _I don't have time to look for a key…_

Looking around, he spots a large air vent, going into the room, _that could get me in._

Leaping up, he grabs onto the outer frame of the vent, almost breaking it off its support hinges. Taking out his knife, he quickly unscrews the panel, and places it in the vent.

Shimming himself inside, he crawls forward, spotting a large circular air duct, _alright! _

Unbuckling the hatch, he opens it upward and slowly lowers himself onto the gurney. The latch closes on his fingers, causing him to face plant onto the floor.

Getting back up, he brushes himself off, pretending that nothing happened and looks around the hospital like room.

Across the room lie a couple of zombified bodies, dressed in scrubs. By them sits a large MRI looking machine and a control panel to the side.

Slowly walking forward, the smell of rotting flesh grows stronger as Richie peers over the corner and sees a couple more dead bodies lying on the floor, another sitting by the gurney near a control panel, and one poor soul who is strapped onto the gurney, _the things they were doing to this person…_

Turning back, he heads toward the panel that is flashing a small red light. Carefully not to step on anyone, he sees that it is the power switch to the machine.

Reaching over, he activates the switch, bringing the machine to life. Surprised by the soft quietness of such a large machine, Richie walks toward the machine and notices a small opening to place a case into.

Looking around, he spots two cases on the gurney near the entrance. Trotting over he picks one up, admiring the simplicity of it, and looking up at the locked entrance door.

Turning the handle, the door opens, _must only unlock from the inside… Better be safe than sorry. _

Grabbing a pen from the desk, he wedges it between the door, keeping his escape open in case he might need it. Heading back to the machine, he places the case within the open slot and it locks into place, ready for the precious merchandise.

Turning to face the control panel, Richie tip toes around the carcasses, careful not to arouse suspicion. Pressing the start button, the machine begins to process the order, quietly creating the concoction.

As Richie admires the large machine, he feels something breathing on the back of his neck, sending a chill down his spine. Turning around he sees the captive zombie staring wide eyed at him, slowly stretching its arm toward him, yet restrained from its shackles. _Poor bastard…_

Slowly forcing its escape, hunger begins to show on its face as it continues to force its self out. Beginning to growl and erupt with snarls. Richie back away slowly, as one of the restraints breaks, giving more freedom for the infected to thrash about.

Looking at the control panel, it flashes a yellow light, signaling that it is near complete. Looking down, Richie locks eyes with the zombie sitting down, who slowly begins to work his way up, drooling at the sight of this delicious meal.

The other two begin to stir and take notice as well.

"Bing"

The preparations are complete, signaling to Richie that now is the time to run. Wheeling around, another zombie blocks his way toward the capsule, and without hesitation, Richie side kicks the infected guard onto the floor.

Unlatching the safety locks, Richie closes the case around the white liquid that is inside and places it in one of the vest pockets. Sprinting toward the door, Richie pushes it open, thankful that he thought ahead for once.

Closing the door behind him, he checks to see if its locked, and is satisfied that his theory was right. Walking toward the hatched door of where he left those lickers, Richie tries to hear any movement, but only silence echoes in the next room.

Pushing the switch, the door opens and Richie makes a run for it, gun at the ready. Looking around he is welcomed by an ambush, as the lickers begin to attack, _shit! They were waiting for me! _

Stuck inside the metallic shaft, all three path ways are block off by the creatures and from above they begin to crawl their way down to greet him, _clever bastards! _

Firing a couple shots into one of the keepers, Richie darts toward the red path, and slides onto his side just in time as one of the creatures was waiting above for him to pass.

Blocked again by two more lickers, he looks around and sees the surrounding army closing in. Dodging the torpedo like tongues, he sees no other option than to jump below, remembering that there are platforms to catch his fall.

With a leap of faith, Richie jumps over, yet is caught around the ankle by one of the beasts.

"Shit!"

Firing a shot at its capture, the grip is released and Richie falls past the platform that he was aiming for.

"Double shit!"

Giving a kick, he propels himself to the wall and hits with strong force against the piping. Hanging onto the little support that he has, Richie holsters his gun and looks up, "that was a big fall…Really?"

The horde of lickers begin to make their descent toward him. Looking around, Richie spot another ventilation panel, and begins to kick it open.

_C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!_

Almost breaking through, a tongue whips past him, cutting his cheek along the way. One final kick and he finally breaks the panel down, and with a quick hoist, throws himself inside.

Continuing his fall down, Richie tries to balance his body yet fails with each sharp turn.

Seeing another panel below, he braces for impact, _this is gonna hurt!_

Breaking through, he falls onto the hard metal floor, forcing all the air out of his body.

"Arghh…"

Trying to regain his breath, Richie recognizes the familiar stench of rotting flesh, and is quickly on his feet.

Looking back he sees three zombified umbrella staff members, who's flesh have been eaten through, reveling only muscles tissue.

_Don't want to stick around to chat_.

Running toward the door, Richie recognizes his location, _I know this place!_

Walking through, the opened hatch, his excitement grows as he realizes that he is in the surveillance room that Mrs. Birkin brought him in.

_Yes! I'm almost there! _

Running at a faster pace, Richie sees the familiar screens and that familiar door welcoming back its visitor, letting Richie through. Going through the small metallic corridor, the smell of rotting eggs greets him once more and making that left turn, sees the large vault like door.

Each step closer he is to the processing machine, excitement grows, as he is finally able to create the vaccine for Ada.

_Almost done Ada, just hold on a little longer. _

Finally reaching the laboratory of where he met his demise, Richie spots a few zombies dead on the floor and one far off in the corner, oblivious of his arrival.

On the other corner, he spots the machine and-

"Mrs. Birkin!"

Startled by the surprise arrival, Dr. Birkin brings her gun at the ready, fear etched across her face.

_What was she doing to my blood?_

"Richard! You're alive!"

Keeping her gun drawn, relief spreads across her face, relieved that her gamble was a success.

"Your body looks stronger than ever, it seems that the cross viral mutation worked! When William sees this he will be so thrilled!"

Anger begins to rise as Richie accounts those earlier hours of when she tricked him with the new viruses.

"Look what you have made me into! I'm a monster now because of you!"

Sensing danger, Dr. Birkin has her pistol locked onto Richie as he walks toward her, "take one more step and I'll shoot!"

Without listening to her warning, she fires a warning shot, yet Richie could sense that she wont hit, _your body tells me everything…_

Firing another shot, Richie continues his approach, ready to apprehend the weapon.

"Richard stop!"

Sensing that she is aiming to kill, she fires another shot, and instantly, Richie reacts, seeing the bullet slow down, he easily avoids the shot.

_I can dodge bullets too…Cool. _

Mortified that she missed, Dr. Birkin fires two more shots, and with lighting speed, Richie dodges both of them, and finally is face to face with his doctor.

"Click,"

Dr. Birkin looks down at her empty gun, fear stricken that her life could be over.

"Your gun's empty huh… Shame."

Dr. Birkin looks up into Richie, amazed that he was able to dodge her shots so easily.

"Richard… look at you… you are truly marvelous…"

Richie stares into her eyes and is disgusted at what he sees.

"I will never forgive you for what you have done to me…Because of what this company has done, I vow to make sure to take it all down, everything you created, I will bring down…"

Not wanting to be around any longer, Richie walks toward the machine, and takes out the case from his vest pocket. Taking out the white liquefied vial, he inserts it into the machine.

"Wait! What are you doing?! You can't use the vaccine, its too late!" Pushing the button, the machine casing closes, ready to start the chemical process.

"Richard, you can't! there is no vaccine for you! If you try to use a vaccine it will kill you! More research is needed-"

"ARGHH!"

Richie collapses onto the floor again, as the thriving pain is back, melting his insides with excruciating torture.

"Richard!"

Dr. Birkin runs toward Richie trying to figure out what is causing him to convulse. Kneeling down to get a closer look, the pain quickly stops and Richie spots her security clearance key card, _going to need that..._

"Every time… I push my body… This happens…"

Richie gasps out, trying to regain his breath. Dr. Birkin pulls out a miniature flashlight and shines it at Richie's eyes, which gives him the chance to pickpocket the distracted doctor. Pocketing his new treasure, Dr. Birkin quickly feels his pulse, trying to figure out what is being affected in his body.

"Richard… I need to draw blood to find out why this is happening to you."

Richie quickly pulls himself away from her grasp and pushes the start of the machine, "No."

He eyes her suspiciously, making sure that she wont try to surprise him again.

"Richard listen, we don't know how your body is taking to the new viruses and the only way to find out what will happen to you is if I take a sample of your blood… Please…"

Richie looks into the woman's eyes and sees so many conflicting emotions, _Richie, this will help explain why you get those sudden bursts of pain… do it._

"Bing."

The machine finishes, revealing a new ready made vaccine for the virus. Richie takes out the vaccine and places it back into the case and secures it in the vest pocket.

"Ok… On one condition… You have to prepare everything in front of me."

Dr. Birkin leaps onto her feet, supported by a large smile across her face. Running toward the cabinet, she retrieves more supplies. Richie looks around the area of which he collapsed earlier, seeing patches of his hair on the floor and blood everywhere.

Looking more around the area, he fails to find his back pack, _I guess it's long gone now._

Dr. Birkin returns with the supplies and places them on the table.

"Ok, here is the new needle, the injector gun, and an empty vial to take in your blood. I will now assemble it in front of you."

She quickly assembles the gun, trying to contain her excitement. Richie exposes his right arm, ready for the injection. Dr. Birkin finds a large vein and quickly injects the gun, drawing up as much blood as the vial will hold.

_Ugh, I hate needles…_

Filling up the vial, she withdraws the needle and quickly takes out the vial.

"Now all I need to do is look into the composition and see how it reacts to different stressors."

Richie looks impatiently at his wrist, _hey! Where did my watch go?!_

"How long will this take? I'm in a hurry."

Dr. Birkin walks across the room and begins to make preparations for the microscope. "Should take me an hour. Have a seat and-"

"I don't have an hour!"

Richie shouts back, as he begins to walk toward the exit.

"Richard! Wait!"

Richie walks out of the room before she says anything else, "_stupid child… Better document all of this while I have the chance…" _

He could hear her even when he was outside the room and already in the next corridor.

_Better get back to Ada. _

Running at a sprint, Richie runs back into the surveillance room and remembers the secret elevator, _maybe it can take me straight to where Ada is. _

Taking out the key card, he swipes the reader and instantly is greeted inside. Looking at the control panel, he slides the card once more and an array of floors are open, ready to be accessed.

_Which floor was she on?_

Looking once more at the many different levels, Richie presses level "M-1" and quickly the elevator lurches upward.

_How did Ada carry my body and make it all the way up there? While wounded she did all this… No matter what, I have to save her, I have to make sure that she makes it out of here…. _

"Ding"

Arriving to the floor, the doors open and Richie sees across the corridor a large yellow cabin, _that wasn't there before… _

Walking cautiously, he smells a familiar smell, not of rotting flesh but of something more sinister. Coming up to the entrance of the room that he left Ada in, Richie turns the handle, but is startled that its locked.

_I didn't lock it? Could she have done it?_

Without a seconds hesitation, Richie whips out his Beretta and rolls out of the way as a tentacle narrowly misses his head.

Gun pointed toward the yellow cabin, Richie realizes instantly who is there to greet him.

"Dr. Birkin…"

Jumping onto the yellow cabin, with a few tentacles thrashing about, Dr. Birkin roars in anger as he missed the kill.

_He looks different… Can barely see his face._

Before Richie could give another thought, Dr. Birkin's body begins to convulse, collapsing onto the floor. Richie slowly approaches the beast, gun at the ready, _better have my knife ready too._

Taking out his knife, Richie is ready for any surprises that might come. The giant eye that he has come to loath begins to spin frantically as the body begins to go through another transformation.

_"_Shit…"

Not wanting to give him a chance to mutate, Richie begins to fire upon the evolving piece of flesh, which continues to grow.

_Shit shit shit. _

Emptying his clip, Richie reaches for another magazine, yet when he searches around his vest pockets, only one left is available for him.

_Better use the knife while I have the chance. _

Reloading the pistol, he holsters his gun. Quickly running toward the beast, he stabs it multiple times, making the giant shriek in pain. Before Richie could attempt another attack, a third arm throws him off.

Landing on his feet, he sees the newly transformed doctor. All human traces of him are now gone and is replaced with something even uglier. Two large arms shaped like wings sit on the upper back, giving it a demonic feel and two new arms are formed with sharp claws ready to kill. A new eye sits on the upper left thigh, staring coldly at Richie, as well as the giant bloodshot one sitting on the right shoulder.

Looking down on him sits a skull like head, with large razor sharp teeth twisted into a permanent wide smile, _oh man he smiles like the joker…_

Two beady ruby like eyes stare down at Richie, hinting nothing but death to him. Holding his breath. Richie continues to stare at this horrific monster, unable to comprehend what stands before him.

A thin smile spreads across his face, "remember me?"

The beast gives out a loud roar, shaking the entire level. Not giving another moment, Richie throws his knife to the large eye, startling the giant. Shrieking in pain trying to pull out the weapon, Richie runs toward the smaller eye and with as much strength as he can muster, kicks it squarely in the pupil. Sensing an attack, Richie darts underneath its legs and from behind side kicks the back.

Stumbling forward, the beast turns around thrashing its arms violently, trying to hit its target. Seeing an opening to grab his knife, Richie dodges two swipes of the large arms and manages to grab his knife, yet is caught by the monster.

Thrown across the platform, Richie nearly falls over, but hangs onto one of the railings. Looking down he sees how deep the drop is, _I wont survive this fall, that's for sure. _

Regaining its eyesight, Dr. Birkin looks across and finds Richie hanging on and begins to sprint at alarming speed to finish him.

_I need to time this just right, other wise its all over…_

As the beast inches closer, Richie takes on final deep breath, calming his nerves and as he watches his aggressor ready its large claws for the final attack, Richie positions himself with his knife ready.

As the beast strikes with such ferocity, Richie leaps off the side of the railing, grabbing onto the creature's arm and with his knife, stabs the side of the neck. Erupting in a large roar, Richie positions his feet onto the railing and with the forward momentum from the doctors attack, Richie throws him off the platform.

Regaining his balance, Richie makes a jump toward the platform but is caught around the ankle and thrusted off the railing. Grabbing onto the railing, Richie looks down to see that the monster hasn't given up on killing its prey.

Giving off a threatening roar Richie pulls out his pistol and takes aim at the giant eye, "No."

Pulling the trigger, the monstrous giant lets go of his grasp and falls into darkness. Unable to see him any more, Richie hoists himself onto he platform while holstering his gun. Picking up his knife and sheathing it back to its rightful place, Richie looks over the bottomless pit.

_Now he gets to find out how it feels to fall to your death._

Walking back to the storage room, Richie tries opening the door once again, and to his surprise it opens, _I guess that tentacle must have unlocked it when it hit the door…weird_

Walking in, Richie is relieved to finally bring back the vaccine for the woman who constantly saves his life,_ finally we can get out of here._

Turning the corner Richie stops in his tracks, dumbfounded of who lies before him.

"ARGGGHHH!"

Collapsing onto the floor, convulsing from so much pain, Richie's body contorts dramatically, tearing muscle fibers in the process. Crying out in pain, he looks up at the cold body, oblivious of his intrusion. Unable to handle the pain that hasn't stopped, Richie enters in and out of consciousness.

Before blacking out, he gets a final glimpse of the person he promised so long ago that he was going to save, Sherry Birkin…


	9. Why?

**Hi everyone! Here is another chapter to the story, hope you all enjoy it. **

**Haha that wasn't me Jitan, but I hope it was a good review none the less =)**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Why?**

"Richard, you can only choose one person that you wish to save… Either way, one person is going to die here… So who's it going to be?"

Richie struggles from the restraints that keep him seated but to his bitter frustration cannot break free, _I can save both! _

Locked in a dungeon of a room, lit only by torchlight's, Richie is face to face with the two people that he vowed to save. In one corner is Sherry, who is shackled against the wall, unconscious and the other corner is Ada, also strapped against the wall, unconscious.

In the middle is Dr. Birkin, and she is the conductor of this mad little orchestra.

"Mrs. Birkin! Please take my life instead! Let them both go!"

Giving off a hysterical laugh, Dr. Birkin shakes her head, "Sorry Richard, that's not how this works."

She begins to climb a flight of stairs, and enters the control room.

"You better decide quickly, otherwise they both die…"

Pushing a button, a small alarm goes off as flashing red warns the group of incoming danger. Richie continues to struggle against his restraints yet they seem to get tighter the more he fights.

_No! It cant end like this! I wont let it!_

As he continues to thrash about, he begins to feel the restraints cut into his wrists and arms, slowly digging through his flesh.

"Sherry! Ada! Wake up!"

The two helpless victims are unstirred by his pleas, _please… No…_

"_Thud, Thud, Thud…" _

_Oh no…_

Walking out from a dark corridor is the other doctor Birkin, this time however walking on all fours.

"NOOOO!"

Richie struggles even harder against his restraints, digging deeper into his flesh. The monster now has grown larger, into the size of a large rhino, and protruding out from the chest are a set of large teeth, moving apart to reveal a mouth big enough to eat a person whole.

Stopping in the middle of the dungeon, the beast looks at the two helpless women, large pools of drool lubricate his teeth, ready for the small feast.

Another alarm goes off as the wall that they are shackled to begins to move, bringing them closer together.

_No!_

"Almost out of time Richard…"

Looking up, Richie sees Mrs. Birkin with a notebook ready to take notes of the next occurring events. Richie looks at the beast who is now looking at him. Those beady red eyes transfixed on him, curious as to how this boy has eluded him thus far.

"Dr. Birkin please… Take me instead…"

Richie bows his head, pleading with the creature of his sacrifice. Erupting in a loud roar, Richie looks up and sees Sherry and Ada waking up, panic begins to take over their faces as they see the situation that they are in.

"Too late Richard…"

Richie fights his restraints, trying to break free, but his bones are in the way of the shackles from ripping through. Everything is silent as Richie sees the monster run toward the helpless women. Unable to hear the cries, he can see the fear on their face as they struggle to get out of their iron restrains.

As the beast gets closer, Ada stops struggling and looks up at Richie, tears begin to roll down her face, and over the smile she sets for Richie, _No Ada, please… _

Sherry also gives up the struggle and looks at Richie, conflicting emotions fight on her face, forcing a smile as well.

_No please… Take me…_

Dr. Birkin raises his claws and with monstrous force, brings a fetal blow to the two victims.

"NOOOOOO!"

Richie launches off the floor and is on his feet, tears flowing down his face. Breathing heavily, he looks around and sees that he is back in the employee room, safe with Sherry.

_Only a dream? It felt so real…_

Looking at Sherry, she is undisturbed by the alarm as she continues to slumber, sweating profusely.

_Oh no, is she infected too?_

Walking toward her still body, Richie wipes away the sweat on her forehead, and feels the burning fever. _No… Sherry…_

Examining her body, he sees her wearing an unfamiliar pink vest over her clothes that she wore to school, _could that be from the person that is taking care of you?_

Richie sits on the cot and grabs her hand, stroking her cold skin gently with his thumb.

_What do I do? This is just like the dream…_

Richie looks at Sherry's face, remembering all the times they spent together, all those secrets they shared.

"Sherry what do I do?"

Hoping for an answer, he sees only calmness.

_There was one more case in the VAM room, and Ada is in worse shape than Sherry._

Squeezing his hand, Richie flinches, surprised of the sudden squeeze.

"Sherry? Can you hear me? It's me Richie…"

Unresponsive, Sherry continues to sleep. _Does she know I'm here? _

Taking out the case from his vest pocket, Richie gazes at the dark liquid, lost in thought.

_Ada is in worse condition, and I know where the VAM room is now, I can prepare it again... Then again, I'm already here with Sherry, so I can save her quick then save Ada…_

Taking a deep meditative breath, he decides on his course of action.

Closing the case and returning it to his vest pocket, Richie kisses Sherry's hand and gently puts it down.

"I'll be back Sherry, hold on tight."

Getting up and walking toward the door, an impulse stops him. _Maybe I should leave it with her…_

Walking back, he reaches into one of the vest pockets and takes out the floppy disc that Ben had given him, of all the information and corruption between Umbrella and Chief Irons.

_Just in case I don't make it…_

Putting the disk in the front pocket of the pink vest, Richie heads out, leaving the room without looking back.

_If you and your friend made it this far, then you have a better chance to surviving, I still have unfinished business here…_

Walking toward the elevator platform, where he battled Dr. Birkin, Richie heads toward the control panel, _the key is still in, Ada should be one level down. _

Hitting the button, the machine roars to life as the platform begins to descend deeper into the hellish nightmare that almost engulfed him.

_I will save you both, I promise…_

Slowing to a halt, Richie recognizes the level as he steps off the platform, _no wander I got the level mixed up, they look exactly the same. _

"AAAHHHHHHH!"

Coming from within the room, Ada gives out a blood curling scream. Without hesitation, Richie sprints toward the door, nearly breaking it down.

Entering the room he sees Ada on the floor, a few feet from the cot, "Ada!"

Scooping her up in his arms, she winces at the pain of his touch and he gently places her on the cot.

"What were you trying to do? Your in no condition to be going anywhere."

She looks up at him, sweat dripping from her face, "ok dad."

Trying to give a chuckle, she winces at the excruciating pain and passes out in his arms.

"Ada!"

Reaching in his vest pocket, he pulls out the vial and lays her down onto the cot. Darting towards the table where he left the medical kit, Richie searches through it for a syringe. As he searches, Ada's breathing begins to escalate, _shit, her heart is pumping too fast! _

Finally finding a sealed packet of syringes, he tears one open and pours in the elixir, capping it and pushing any remaining air left in the tube.

Ready for injection, he hurries to Ada and grabs her right arm. Finding a good vein, he quickly injects the needle, and pushes the vaccine into her system.

Taking the syringe out after finishing he looks at Ada's face, hoping that her breathing will calm down.

_C'mon Ada, don't die on me._

Holding her hand, he waits for her breathing to return to normal, yet increases in rate, _why isn't it working?_

Feeling her head, the fever has gotten worse and suddenly stops breathing altogether.

"Ada?"

Unresponsive, he feels for a pulse, yet feels nothing.

"No! Ada don't do this to me!"

Without having time to think, Richie begins CPR, trying to remember the information that his father relayed to him about it so many years ago. Cocking her head back he begins to pump pressure on her chest. _Control yourself Richie, remember your way more stronger now…_

"C'mon Ada! Come back to me!"

Moving his face toward hers, he plugs her nose and begins to blow into her lungs, being careful not to push too much air into her delicate body.

Not feeling a breath, he beings to pump pressure on her chest again, "please Ada… Don't leave me…"

Tears welling up, Richie goes back and tries to breathe life back into his guardian angel, _please… Ada…_

Not feeling a pulse, he tries again, _please come back!_

After filling her body with his breath he feels a twitch from underneath him and opens his eyes to see her looking back at him.

Afraid to disconnect his mouth and lose her again, he continues to watch as her pupils dilate and something unfamiliar touches his tongue, sending a current of electrifying energy throughout his body.

Startled he pulls his head back and continues to gaze into her mysterious eyes.

"Hey stranger." she whispers with a small smile.

Richie's body shakes uncontrollably as he sees her before him, awake and smiling, _thank you…. Thank you…_

As she sits up, Richie is unable to hold the tears back and lets them go as he embraces the young woman, unable to keep his emotions in check.

Hugging her savior, she lets him sob softly onto her shoulder, while she gently rubs his back, "thank you Richie, I owe you my life again…"

Richie chuckles as he continues to hold onto her, afraid that this all might be a dream and once he lets go, she will be gone forever. Ada looks around the room and spots her gun on the table, then sees the mess around the lockers.

"Hope I wasn't too much trouble for ya."

Hesitatingly letting go, Richie clumsily wipes away his tears and shakes his head. She smiles again and slowly lies back down onto the cot.

"Ada! Are you ok?"

Fear stricken, Richie jumps out of the cot and makes his way toward the medical kit, but his had is caught by Ada's, stopping him in his tracks.

"I'm fine, just got a little dizzy is all. How are you doing?"

Tongue tied, Richie stares back at her, trying to figure out how to answer such a question, "I'm a lot better knowing that your ok."

She chuckles at his response, "your such the ladies man aren't ya?"

Ready to give a witty response, Richie freezes, remembering who else needs his rescue.

"Ada… You will be safe here, there is someone else I have to help."

Looking at her hypnotic eyes, he sees conflicting emotions but the one winning the battle is understanding, "go, i'll be ok here."

Walking toward her gun, Richie checks for ammo, and is relieved that it's full.

"Here, i'll be back soon…you're safe now."

Richie feels a pang of guilt saying the last part, _your never safe in a place like this…_

Nodding in appreciation, Ada closes her eyes, feeling at ease that she can rest better now, knowing that for the small time that he is here, she is safe.

Walking out the door, Richie fights the urge to look back and quickly makes his way toward the door that houses the army of lickers, _I wander if they are still waiting for me?_

Getting ready for the sprint, he opens the door and dashes across the familiar platform, expecting it to rain devils. Looking around however, he realizes that he is alone, and slows down.

_Where did they all go?_

Not wanting to be around for when they do come, he climbs up the ladder that is on the side and passes through the entry into the east wing, spotting the Vam room.

Reaching for the handle, Richie remembers that it unlocks from the inside, _might as well check anyway._ Turning the handle, expecting resistance, Richie opens the door and hesitantly walks in and sees the zombified corpses lying dead in their own pool of blood.

_Someone has been here..._

Panicking, he looks on the gurney and fails to find a case for the vaccine, _shit!_

Patting his vest, he realizes that he left the case on the table back in the room where Ada is resting, _I hope I can reuse it. _

Running out of the room, Richie runs through the east wing door and back onto the open platform. Jumping onto the ladder and making his way down, he hears the clicking sound from beneath him, _great just what I need right now._

Looking over, he sees something different, _No way..._

Far below the platforms, at the very bottom, Richie sees Dr. Birkin walking near a pool of molten lava, _he should have been dead!_

Daring not to make a sound, Richie slowly continues the climb down onto the platform, making sure the doctor doesn't see him.

_I don't have time to fight him right now, plus the last fight took a lot out of me…_

Leaping onto the platform, Richie causes a loud thud, which stops the doctor in his tracks and looks up.

Pressing against the door behind him, Richie holds his breath, _c'mon, just walk away…_

Looking down, he can see those beady red eyes, scanning the area around him, assessing what the noise was. Unable to locate the source, Dr. Birkin continues to walk off out of sight, and with a sigh of relief, Richie tiptoes back toward Ada's room.

Passing through the door, he notices that the elevator platform is gone, _oh no…_

Realizing who could have used it, Richie darts toward the room, hoping to debunk his suspicion, but once entering he curses his hunch.

"Damn it Ada! Why?"

Finding a note on the cot, Richie picks it up, "**Hey handsome, thanks again for the life saving treatment. Best way of escaping is through the emergency transport at the lowest level. Take care of yourself. Love, Ada.**"

Richie rereads the note, trying to find another explanation as to why she left, _why would she be so reckless and leave? Could this Leon have anything to do with it?_

Folding the note and sticking it in his pocket, Richie looks around for any other clues or reasons why she left, and discovers another horror.

"Shit! Why did she take the case?!"


	10. Time to Say Goodbye?

**Hi Everyone! It has been far too long since I have last updated. Hope everyone is doing well =) Hope you guys are in the mood for this twist in the story, decided to take a different perspective. Let me know what you think because this is something I'm toying with for the new story that takes place after this. Enjoy! =D**

**Chapter 10:**

"Here, I'll be back soon…you're safe now."

Ada reaches for the gun and puts it by her side, at ease that she has some sort of protection.

_Richie, I owe you one… again._

Watching the young troubled boy leave the room, Ada closes her eyes, trying to enjoy what little time she has before setting out to completing her objective.

"Why couldn't I have listened to my mother and have been a dentist like a good girl?"

With a smirk, she slowly rises out of the cot, wincing at the pain in her abdomen. Sitting upright, she struggles to get on her feet, making sure not to lose balance.

Shuffling slowly toward the table, she stretches along the way, loosening her stiff muscles. _Hmm, that feels better_.

Rummaging through the medical kit for a couple aspirins, she spots the empty case that housed the vaccine.

_That could be of some use to me, better hold onto it just in case. _

Pocketing the small item, she spots the bottle of aspirins and pops two pills down her throat.

"Alright, better start moving. But first…"

She unbuckles her belt slowly, and lifts the torn fabric, getting a better look at Richie's handiwork.

"Not bad Richie, you did a clean job… "

The mention of Richie's name brings a soft sad smile to her face, saddened that by his determination to keep her alive, she walks out of his life without so much as a goodbye. Tucking the thin fabric back, she buckles her belt and walks toward a small desk, grabbing a piece of paper and pen and begins to write out her goodbye.

_I'm sorry Richie, but I have to do what I came here to do._

Finishing the letter, she walks back toward the cot and gently places it on the pillow, "so long Richie."

Turning around, she walks out of the room, checking her gun to make sure that it's fully loaded.

_Only one clip to hold me over…Nice._

Feeling the aspirin kicking in, she increases her pace, and heads toward the platform with the yellow cabin and begins to study the controls.

_Hmm, when I found Richie he was in the labs which is on... the fourth level... Better start my search there._

Pushing the start button, the platform roars to life and begins its decent. Looking up, Richie's face flashes in her mind, startling her of the sudden thought.

_Control yourself, you did it for his own good. No one has to get mixed up in all this… Do what needs to be done and get out._

Shaking her head in frustration, she braces herself for the abrupt stop, finally arriving to the level of her choice.

"With the money and power Umbrella has, the least they could do was make the levels look different from each other."

Picking up the pace, she trots toward the door on the far left, opening it slowly, so as not to alert anyone or anything near by. Peeking over, she sees the coast is clear and continues her march.

Walking on the platform, she peers over the railing and sees vats of molten lava at the bottom level, feeling the immense heat as it caresses up her legs.

Entering the midway point that forks into the west and east area, she pauses for a moment, contemplating which direction to take.

_The report stated that the west area was where Birkin conducted most of his research, lets try that._

Walking past the red lighting, she opens the door at the end of the red illuminated platform and continues through. Seeing in large red letters, "West Area" she slowly tiptoes toward it, spotting a couple of dead lumps on the floor.

_Large humanoid plants? What will they think of next?_

Taking a closer look, the dead carcasses are filled with bullet holes, lying next to a couple of bloody footprints, which are heading toward a small metallic door. Stepping over the plants, Ada carefully walks toward the door, gun ready for any surprises that might jump out at her.

Slowly turning the handle, she flings the door open and points the gun straight ahead. Nothing jumping out, she lets out a small sigh of relief, _after this, I'm going to take a long vacation._

Walking through, she sees another dead humanoid plant on the floor, near a ladder and outside the railing stands a large trunk of a plant, with vines all over it, wiggling in fluid motion.

_So the report was correct, T-virus infects plants and causes them to grow exponentially, just like the incident in the mansion…I better keep my distance._

Walking toward the ladder, she grabs on and begins her slow decent, while keeping an eye on the large infected plant next to her. Looking down she spots a large root blocking her path, _great, that's all I need right now._

Coming up to it, she slowly lifts her leg and tries to feel around for the next step, _this is a big root_. Sliding down even further, she fishes around for the step, yet feels nothing but air.

"Hmm."

Holstering her gun to her belt, she slides her other leg over and slowly lets go of the ladder, latching onto the root.

_I'm glad no one is here to see me like this, I look ridiculous._

Dangling over the large root, the slime begins to lubricate her hands and slowly feels them slipping.

"Really?"

Losing her grip, she continues to look for the steps below with her feet but still coming up empty handed.

_Oh forget it_.

Letting go, she falls straight down with her hands out in front, ready to grab whatever will stop her fall. In an instant, she grabs onto the ladder steps and makes her way down the rest. Stepping onto the platform, she looks up, _that took longer than it needed to be._

Drawing her gun, she walks toward the metallic door and slowly opens it, ready for any more delays. Satisfied with the quiet air, she moves on...

"_Click, click, click, click."_

Stopping before rounding the corner, she hears a familiar sound, _seems that I'm not alone._

Peering over, she sees a dead licker on the floor and beyond that a few more. Walking slowly toward the other corner, she keeps her gun aimed at the dead carcasses, _shots straight into the head… Must be Leon's…_

"_Click, click, click…"_

Back against the cold wall, Ada pokes her head around the corner and sees a licker patrolling the hallway, _one clean shot should take care of him_.

Exposing her self in the open, she takes careful aim, ever so slightly sticking her tongue out in extreme focus.

Giving a soft whistle, the beast wheels around and it's eyeless face looking directly at her.

"Hi there." She whispers to the beast.

With a roar, the licker leaps up in the air ready to strike, yet the moment it has been targeted it stood no chance. With one clean shot in between the hemispheres of the brain, the creature dies before it hits the ground.

With a smile of satisfaction, Ada continues past the room and into the metallic hallway. Opening the door at the end, she sees in large letters in front of her, "C-2 Hangar," _I'm close._

Continuing her mission, she sees the monitors hanging on the wall, yet mostly filled with static. Passing through the door with the letter "B" situated above, she picks up the pace and begins to run. Coming to the fork in the road, she spots the large vault like door to her left with the bold letters above "P-4 Laboratory." _Bingo._

Crossing over, she opens the heavy door and enters through, _the lab should be beyond that little corridor._

With the gun at the ready she creeps into the small connecting room and looks through the glass for any infected surprises.

"Hmm, they're all dead."

Walking through she sees the open room with microscopes, documents and other assortments cluttered around the floor and desks. Spotting a computer in the far corner, she walks toward it.

_Odd, this computer is the only one on? Someone must have used it recently._

Scrolling through the text, Ada reads the notes that were taken earlier, and soon grows horrified of the information being given.

**Have introduced T and T-Veronica viruses into the subject after already been infected by the G-virus. Muscle decomposition and total loss of hair occurred, while the subject severely bled internally. Subject then lost consciousness. Unable to collect more data as other infected were gathering in the location, yet upon returning to the subject at hand, he disappeared. Later reappearing, he allowed a blood sample for analysis and these are the results:**

**1) The body is undergoing rapid growth, and hasn't stabilized yet**

**2)** **Subject reported of internal pains after engaging in physical stress, further analysis suggests the body isn't able to withstand the growth and is decaying while growing**

**3)** **This paradoxical theory wont be confirmed until an autopsy is done**

**4)** **Positive influences are the following but not limited to:**

** a) Increase in cognitive abilities (continues to grow at an alarming rate)**

** b)** **Increase in strength, speed, and motor skills (which surpasses human capability)**

** c)** **Senses have gone past human capability**

**Overall conclusion, virus treatments will counteract the decaying process as he continues to grow, yet if this isn't done soon, the viruses will slowly eat him alive from the inside and I hypothesize that he won't die from this, as the virus will keep him alive in order to survive and find a stronger host. The subject will experience a perpetual painful torture with no end in sight…**

Ada sat on the chair dumbfounded of what she just read.

_This is what they did to Richie? How could they have done this to a child?_

Unable to contain her emotions she strides back and forth around the room, trying to collect her thoughts, but every time she makes an attempt, the young boy flashes in her mind.

_No, I have to finish my objective first, help Richie second._

A pang of guilt strikes her down, "Shit."

Walking to the computer, she prints out the data and the analysis.

"I don't have all the resources right now to help him. Finish what I came here to do and maybe they might help me. He would be a great asset for them and that might be the only way to help him."

Taking the printed documents, she walks out of the room. Wrestling with the information, Ada absent mindedly wanders through the corridors, entering once again into the surveillance room. Something different brings her back to reality.

_That's weird, that used to be a wall before._

Slowly peeking through the hidden elevator door, she waltzes inside, "how could I say no to such an invitation?"

Looking at the control monitor, a screen flickers on, ready for a command, only sharing with the stranger certain floors of the facility.

"Lets see… boiler room? Haven't been there yet, there might be something useful there." Activating the controls, the elevator excitedly closes its doors and begins its ascent.

_No matter what, I need to complete my objective… That will give me enough leverage to keep Richie safe when I hand him to them… Hopefully…_

"Ding!"

The doors open wide, letting the passenger out, only to stumble onto a large pool of crimson blood.

"I hate to see what made this much blood and isn't around to claim it…" Walking at a faster pace around the metallic corridors, Ada opens the metal gate, welcomed by a wave of humidity.

Walking around the upper platform, she spots the other door across the railing.

_Hmm, I need to get there and it seems that someone left the lift down, how thoughtful of them to make me work harder._

Making her way to the rail near the other platform she measures the distance of how far she needs to jump across, "with a good kick off I could make it."

Taking off her shoes, she climbs over the railing, adjacent to the opening on the platform across from her. Throwing her shows across, she positions her footing, and like an Olympic swimmer takes her mark.

Coiled in a squatting position against the railing she takes a deep breath and instantly launches into the air. Clearing the gap, she dives onto the next platform and performs a roll, tapering off the forward momentum. "that wasn't so bad."

Strapping on her shoes, she approaches the large door.

"THUD!"

Startled by the sudden quake, Ada readies her gun and opens the metallic gate. Running through she sees Leon on the other side and in front of him a large giant with a black trench coat. The skin is icy death white and his glare matches his complexion.

_Oh no, Leon!_

Without hesitating, Ada is behind the giant and fires at the upper left shoulder, only to stop it in its tracks.

Slowly turning to face its shooter, the monster clenches its jaws and emits a soft growl.

"Run!"

Ada empties her clip into the giant but doesn't seem to be slowing it down. "Click click click..."

_Great! Perfect timing for the gun to be jammed right now! _

Cocking the pistol bring out the next bullet, Ada manages to kick out the empty shell that blocked her weapon, ready for the next line of fire.

Within seconds the giant tyrant grabs hold of her delicate neck and hoists her up into the air.

"Ada!"

The young officer watches horrified as he sees the woman in red empty her clip into the tyrants face. Feeling her strength being squeezed out of her, Ada continues to struggle for life as she finishes up her last clip into the giant.

In a painful rage, the tyrant hurls the young woman at the computer system near by with a force that breaks more than just the computer. Giving out an agonizing growl the giant stumbles forward, spewing blood from the punctured wounds that were inflicted on it, and without realizing its ended direction, breaks through the railing and falls to the motel pool of lava below.

Hearing the loud gush of molten fluid from impact, Ada clutches her sides, writhing in pain from the broken bones.

_I guess I broke more than just my pride…_

Running over to her aid, Leon kneels beside her, gently caressing her arm, hoping that this would comfort the young woman. Clinging on to life, Ada struggles to face the young officer.

"Leon please… escape."

Holding her firmer, afraid to let her go, "No, we're a team…I can't just…leave you behind…"

Ada shakes her head unable to understand this man's stubbornness to stay by her side.

_Why Leon? Why are you making this harder than it needs to be…_

"I'm… just a woman… who fell in love with you…Nothing more."

Looking deep into his desiring eyes, Ada lets go of her defenses, and slowly they share an intimate moment of pure passion. Forgetting the circumstances, forgetting the mission that she was sent out to do, Ada finally enjoys what little pleasure that is left on this earth. Feeling the warmth of his lips, her inner walls crumble to the ground, unable to keep them up any longer. Reaching up, she grabs onto his arm, feeling the strength of his bicep and gently squeezes in affection. Electrical sparks erupt from the broken machine, creating a romantic atmosphere for the young survivors.

Feeling her strength slipping, Ada struggles to withdraw from the kiss and suddenly gushes out her last sigh before losing consciousness.

_I'm sorry Leon... I'm sorry... Richie..._

"Ada… No…" Leon fights back the tears of desperation as he sees his new found love lost forever in his arms.

"ADDDAAA!"

Leon holds her tightly one last time in his arms, hoping to keep her sweet scent on him forever.

**"The self destruct sequence has been activated. Repeat, the self destruct sequence has been activated. This sequence may not be aborted. All employees proceed to the emergency car at the bottom platform."**

Laying her down softly onto the cold metallic floor, Leon takes one last look at the woman who touched his heart.

"I will always remember you… goodbye Ada."

Leon begins his escape, unaware that within the same room, sits a small surveillance camera, which captured everything.

Unaware that a young man sitting in a control room, quietly mourns the death of the woman who also has changed his heart…


	11. Beginning of the End

**Chapter 11: Beginning of the End**

Feeling the note Ada left him, Richie sits in the quiet room where he left her to recover.

_Why would she take off like that? _

Looking around for anymore clues, the thin aroma of her perfume still lingers in the air, _I could always follow her scent_.

Crackling a small smile, Richie closes his eyes and tries to figure out what he needs to do.

_If she is strong enough to move on her own then I better start figuring out a way to help Sherry. I wander if this person she is with has already created the vaccine for her? There has to be a control or executive room… someplace where I can see everything… The monitors in that surveillance room weren't working... There must be another place._

Feeling his pocket again, he feels the hard outline of the Dr. Birkin's security card, _that's it!_

Jumping out of his seat, Richie makes his way out the room and trots toward the elevator nearby. Walking in after the sliding doors allow him to enter, he takes out the security card and swipes in his presence at the terminal, accessing the hidden levels of the underground complex.

Looking at the complex web of levels within, Richie spots a small dot indicating a hidden location with no name attached to it, _that's weird, why is this one nameless? _

Pushing the button, the elevator roars to life and quickly makes it ascent, _this should be interesting…_

Slowing down to its final destination, Richie readies his gun, unaware of the surprises lurking within this hidden chamber. "Ding!"

The elevator doors slide open to reveal a grand historic room, mixing classical with modern. Giving off a whistle in amazement, Richie holsters his gun and takes in his surroundings. In front of him sits a large red velvet sofa, outlined with bloodstained oak framing, and small gold tassels hanging on the bottom. Moving closer to this Victorian sofa, Richie eyes the paintings on the walls, all depicting some sort of biblical scene, and one captures his eyes.

A large painting illustrating a battle between angels and demons, expressed so vividly with morose colors, as the demons are dragging many of the angels deep within the depths of hell, yet there are also many angels viciously slaying the devils. This painting leaves Richie pensive, on the thought between good and evil and how both sides are always in constant battle over a persons soul.

_I feel like they are fighting for my soul…_

Taking one last look, Richie walks toward the large mahogany desk, which is kept organized and clean. Sitting behind the large wooden shield, is a crimson red executive chair, spoiled with rich leather, ready for its owner to return. Swiveling the chair around, Richie sits comfortably in the red upholstery, surprised of how comfortable this piece of furniture really is. Looking up he faces the umbrella logo on the wall, bearing down on him with such ferocity, despite it being such a simple logo.

_I hate you umbrella, for everything that you have done… _

Slamming his fist on the armrest, he is surprised of the hard impact, _whoa… There's something hidden here…_

Looking closer, he spots a small leather band sticking out of the side, and pulls it up, revealing a dashboard of switches. Studying the array of buttons, he presses one with a power symbol below it and is rewarded with an extraordinary surprise.

In front of him, the wall bearing the umbrella logo splits in half, opening to reveal a large computer and a monitor to match with it.

_Wow… this room is full of surprises. _

Rolling himself toward the computer, he marvels over the simplicity of the machinery that sits before him, ready to flex it technological muscles.

The screen flashes on with the umbrella logo as the background and a small command box appears, "User name and password? Shit I don't…"

Pulling out the security card, Richie finds the scanner and holds his breath as he swipes the thin piece of plastic. Looking up he sees the command being accepted with a typed caption, "Welcome back Dr. Birkin."

_Looks like it's going to resume what ever they were doing here…_

Instantly the large monitor is broken up into smaller monitors, revealing every room within the complex and right away he has the birds eye view. _Yes!_

Quickly scanning the monitors, he sees a young woman in a black shirt and pink shorts running from a hoard of lickers, _her shorts match the vest Sherry had, could she be the one helping her? _

Seconds later, she runs through a door and closes it just in time. The army of lickers claw at the metallic door yet frustratingly fail at getting through and retreat once more into the darkness. Scanning through the monitors again he sees many zombified scientists aimlessly wandering the facility, some devouring a nearly fresh carcass, and others lying dead on the floor.

Getting impatient, Richie continues to look for any signs of Ada and as if the computer read his thoughts, presents him the video footage of the chaos that will ensue.

"Ada!"

Richie sees her trying to handle her gun while an enormous figure in a black trench coat approaches her and behind it a young officer, frozen with shock.

"What the hell are you doing?! Run Ada run!"

Screaming at the monitors, hoping they could save her, Richie is on his feet, transfixed on the screen, showing him the violence before him.

"No!"

Clutched around the throat, Ada empties her clip within the giant, and the silent visual begins to send shivers down Richie's spine as he sees her being flung into the computer, exploding with electrical fireworks from the impact.

"Please no! Ada!"

Watching the tyrant fall off the platform, Richie sees the young cop clutching Ada, trying to keep her upright. Richie collapses on the chair, dumbstruck at what he just saw and bitterly knowing that she might not make it, _why Ada… Why did you have to do this?_

Covering his face with trembling hands, he looks around the room, seeing if he could find something to help him and looking up he is startled to see the image before him.

Ada and the young cop, locking lips in a passionate kiss.

_He must be… Leon…_

Coming to his senses Richie puts in a command into the computer to find the location of the room, and quickly the response appears, _boiler room? _

Looking at the young couple, Richie sees Ada limp in Leon's arms…Unable to contain his anger Richie yells out to the heavens and the depths of hell, bitter anger toward this whole situation.

Wishing that he can destroy Umbrella with just a push of a button, destroy everything they hold dear, just like how they have destroyed him. With that inspired thought, Richie types in the command to the computer to destroy the facility, foolishly believing that his wish would come true and instantly a dialogue box appears.

"**All data and files will be deleted. Do you wish to continue?" **

Hitting the enter button without another thought, a robotic female voice announces..

**"The self destruct sequence has been activated. Repeat, the self destruct sequence has been activated. This sequence may not be aborted. All employees proceed to the emergency car at the bottom platform."**

Startled by the sudden voice, Richie comes back from his blinding rage and sees the results of what he has done, "No way…"

Staring at the large monitor he tries to grasp the implications of his actions, unable to believe how easy it was to destroy a multi-million dollar facility.

Snapping him back to reality, a small dialogue box appears showing him that all the data and video footage saved so far are being sent to an outside source.

"Whats going on? Where is all the data going?"

Typing in the commands to trace the outside source, he gets a dialogue box denying his request and resumes back to the many monitors of the facility. Trying again, he is responded with the same dialogue box, this time with a threat of system shut down. Looking back at the monitors, he sees Ada lying there alone, and despite the pixilated quality of the video footage, Richie sees a slight movement.

"Is she still alive?!"

Getting up from his chair, he continues to stare at her still body and decides to get her, _I can't leave her here, ill get her down to the evacuation room and ill get Sherry after. _

Right before executing his plan, he spots Leon on another monitor, with Sherry in his arms.

"Sherry!"

Seeing her safe, Richie breathes easier knowing that she is taken care of, "ok... Hang tight Ada, I'm coming."

Turning around and sprinting toward the elevator, Richie stops before entering and turns behind him, looking one last time at the devilishly rich room. Once inside the moving capsule, he gets a tingling sensation down his spine, the eerie feeling that someone is watching him.

Turning around he spots a small camera in the corner of the ceiling, closely monitoring his every move.

As the elevator door closes, the view of the young man disappears and with a slight smirk, a haunting figure watches from another location, enjoying the results from this little experiment.

Giving a small maniacal laugh, this shaded figure slowly erects himself from his chair and grabs his heavy leather jacket, walking out of the small room with the intention of getting something that caught his interest...


	12. Breaking Free

**Well everyone, this is the final chapter... This has been a great pleasure and learning experience. **

**Enjoy...**

**Chapter 12: Breaking Free**

"Ding!"

Arriving to the boiler level, Richie is embraced by the warm humidity.

_Not even there yet and I'm already sweating. _

Stepping out, the stench of death looms over the corridor followed by a large puddle of blood. Like a small water-hole, local rodents are feeding their hungry thirst for the dangerously delicious drink and stop abruptly by their new visitor.

_Fat rats_.

Pulling out his knife, Richie slowly walks beside these infected vermin, as they eye him with hungry eyes and blood dripping from their fangs.

One bold creature darts forward to attack the young man and with one swipe, yet looses its head from Richie's sharp accuracy. Stopping in his tracks the giant rats look upon their fallen comrade and collectively look at Richie, the silent tension draws on for a couple seconds which to Richie feels like hours.

Before making another step, the small army of rodents attack at once, launching themselves in the air with such ferocity, such blinding speed, that Richie instinctively lunges forward, knife cutting at its own will.

Grabbing the last rat, Richie looks deeply into its infected eyes, and with a small twitch of his hand, snaps the neck, instantly the thriving animal lays limp.

Tossing the dead creature aside, Richie continues his mission, running down the metallic corridor and opening the door to the boiling chamber. Looking around, he spots a platform and with his growing agility, jumps across and lands gracefully on his feet, without breaking the rhythm of his run.

Finally entering the room where Ada fell, Richie sees her on the floor, lying in a growing puddle of her own blood. Making it by her side, he tries to control his growing rage and despair, delicately controlling his emotions as he slowly holds her into his arms.

As he stands up, he feels a faint heartbeat, _yes… There is hope, I can still save her. _

Running back toward the boiler room, Richie hurdles over the gap to reach the platform, causing Ada to cough up blood from the hard impact.

"Sorry Ada, I'll try to be gentler."

Hoping that his words will keep her alive, Richie runs through the metallic corridor.

"_Click, click, click." _

Coming to an abrupt stop, he sees a licker blocking his path.

With growing impatience, Richie unsheathes his knife and throws it at the creature's cranium, which gives out a painful shriek as the knife travels through its body, killing it instantly.

Running to retrieve his knife, Richie hears many more of its kind approaching him, _I don't have time for this!_

Sheathing his knife, he opens the elevator door and enters before anymore stragglers can get a swipe at him. Approaching the control panel, he swipes the key card and the web of floors present themselves to him. Pushing the emergency car platform, the elevator obeys the command and lurches down.

Looking at Ada's face, he wipes away the blood from her chin and admirers her unguarded innocent face, _I could look at you all day Ada._

Slowly he feels her heart beat getting fainter, Richie holds her tighter in his arms, not wanting to let her go from this world.

Finally arriving to the floor, Richie steps out and sees the train and runs toward the door, unprepared for the surprise that waits inside.

"Sherry?"

Lying still on the cot, Sherry sleeps soundly, _good she's safe here, but where is Leon? _

Hearing the next compartment door open, Richie runs out and leaps onto the train, as graceful as a cat, he silently runs toward the upper platform, where he spots a locker room.

_If he sees me as the way I'm now with Ada in my arms, who knows how he will react. First thing I need to do is patch her up._

Opening the door, he is relieved to find a cot and an emergency medical kit mounted above it. Slowly lowering Ada onto the cot, Richie begins the medical preparations onto a small table nearby. Looking out the window, Richie sees Leon unlocking the barred gate door.

"**Five minutes until detonation.**"

_Come on Richie, hurry up_.

Bringing the small table near the cot, Richie begins to quickly clean up the blood around the cuts and bruises around her body, and begins to wrap them with gauze. After finishing, he looks down to admire his work, and reaches out for a couple aspirins.

Tilting her head back, he gently opens her mouth and inserts the small pills, which effortlessly slides down her throat. Gulping in the medication, Ada continues to lie still, yet slowly regains the color in her face.

"Your safe now…" Richie whispers.

A sudden thud quakes the floor, followed by a monstrous roar which causes an aftershock, _Oh no…_

Looking out the window, Richie spots Leon slowly backing away from a giant, who casually struts toward him. Nothing covering the beast, its exposed muscle tissue and decaying burnt flesh glistens under the florescent lighting. The hands are replaced with giant claws, so sharp, that they can tear even thick metal to pieces.

_So that's what he was hiding under that trench coat. I have to help._

Opening the door, Richie looks back, "don't worry Ada, this will be quick."

Running toward the train, Richie stealthily leaps on top, avoiding to be seen by either party, _I can't let Leon see me, he'll think I'm this things buddy. _

Looking at the battle, Leon fires a couple shots into the beast, which doesn't even phase it. With great agility for such a large creature, the giant darts toward Leon, with a large swipe of its claws and Leon barely dodges as he dives out of the way.

Running toward the opposite side of the room, he continues to shoot the head of the monster, finally stopping it in its tracks as one of the bullets hits an eye.

Giving out a blood curling shriek, the tyrant thrashes about as blood spews from its wounded socket.

With an angry roar, the beast thrashes its arms about and runs toward Leon, who without hesitation runs toward the beast.

_Shit, what is he doing? _

Without stopping, Leon dives with his feet first and slides underneath the tyrant, in between its legs and unloads a couple shots into the creature, who barely misses tearing the young cop to pieces.

_Geese, this guy really knows what he's doing._

The angry giant crashes into the wall near where Richie is hiding. To avoid detection, Richie hides in the shadows of the connecting tunnel.

"Here, use this!"

The words ring in Richie's head as he instantly recognizes the voice, _Ada?_

Peering over the corner, he sees a shadow on the upper platform run past the door and disappears from sight.

_Ada, what are you doing?!_

Crawling toward the platform, yet still trying to conceal himself, Richie makes his way toward the platform where he saw Ada and before he could make the small jump there, Leon's words catches his attention.

"Game over"

With a pull of the trigger, the rocket shoots out of the weapon like a missile and hits its target, causing the beast to explode in a fiery inferno.

Bits of flesh and bones fly in every direction, along with a sharp claw that launches toward Richie, who catches it before kissing his face.

Through the large raging fire and dark smoke that eats away at whatever is left of the tyrant, Richie for the first time locks eyes with the young cop, who keeps the rocket launcher raised but doesn't fire. In that single moment, they understand the trials and tribulations they both shared through this horrific day and they understand the pain they both endured over the same person they fought so hard to protect.

A large cloud of smoke obscures their view and with that cue, Richie leaps onto the platform, disappearing through the door.

_Until we meet again… Leon._

Walking into the room where he left Ada, he unsurprisingly sees the cot empty, with another note sitting on top of a couple pages of paper.

"Again Ada?"

Picking up the note, it reads, "That's twice I owe you. Accept this as a token of my appreciation. Take care of yourself. Love, Ada"

Richie slumps onto the cot and looks up at the ceiling, frustrated that this woman stubbornly left him again.

_I really hope to see you again Ada…_

Picking up the pages she left behind he begins to read the report that Dr. Birkin has done on him.

…_Experience a perpetual painful torture with no end in sight…_

Slumping back against the wall, Richie looks up at the ceiling, struggling to fight back the growing tears, struggling to fight back the pain and anguish that his life will ensue.

"How can I keep fighting? How can I try to survive when everything, inside and out is set out against me from succeeding? How? Tell me!"

Looking around for an answer, the only response are the distant gunshots, _Leon… please take care of Sherry, doesn't look like I will be able too…_

Finally able to let go of the responsibility, the pressure to staying alive, Richie feels his body relax as he comes closer to accepting his quick and painless way of death. Unzipping his body armor, Richie feels the weigh melt away, and for once in a long time since this catastrophe has started, a small smile creeps on his face.

"Thank you…"

Closing his eyes, ready for the self destruct to finish its countdown, Richie sees his family, smiling back at him, warmth and peace radiating through-out his body, cleansing his spirit of the evil that he faced today. Walking toward his waiting family, Richie reaches out to grab his fathers hand when a sudden quake wakes him from his meditative state.

Before opening his eyes, he smells a familiar scent, a scent that will forever be ingrained to his memory, a scent that belongs to a monster that started not only the outbreak but also his doomed fate as a fellow monster.

"Dr. Birkin…"

Getting up from the cot, Richie slowly walks toward the window and sees the four legged Birkin making his way toward the departing train.

_Oh no… Sherry!_

Grabbing his gun, Richie runs out the door and leaps off the platform, onto the landing below. As he inches closer to the beast, Dr. Birkin hurls himself on top of the moving train, "I wont let you get away that easily."

Running at a sprint, Richie push kicks off the side railing and torpedoes himself toward the train, barely grabbing on. Hoisting himself up to the top, he steadies his balance as the train continues to pick up speed. Taking aim, he fires a few shots at one of Dr. Birkin's large eyes.

Giving off a roar, the creature wheels around and eyes its aggressor. Pupils constricting, the monster focuses on Richie, and darts quickly from side to side of the train in such a graceful manner, avoiding the next round of shots.

Emptying his clip, Richie runs toward the beast and with excessive strength, throws the gun at the eye again.

Hitting the target, the deformed monster gives another blood curling shriek and jumps off the train, ricocheting from the tunnel wall and landing in-between the train carts.

_I won't let you get away this time you bastard…_

From the strong impact, the train alarm begins to echo throughout the tunnel, warning the unaware passengers of the monstrous stowaways. Peering over, Richie sees a gruesome transformation.

The doctor's monstrous body begins to grow, yet with no definite shape at all.

"Ugh gross."

Richie is taken back from the growing repulsive smell, a smell of rotting burned flesh mixed with vile feces that contains the remains of humans and animals alike. Unable to hold back the vomit that persistently wants to erupt, Richie hurls on top of the disgusting creature, adding more to the zesty smell.

Paying no attention to the young man above, the monster continues to grow into such a hideous lump of flesh, teeth begin sprouting all over the front side.

"**Warning, bio-hazardous outbreak eminent, the emergency system has been activated, this train will detonate. Repeat, this train will detonate.**"

_Shit!_

Before Richie could be aware, a tentacle wraps around his leg and launches him up to the speeding tunnel, then plummets him down onto the train. Before letting him go, the large lump of flesh throws him off, making sure that Richie wont be able to come back.

As Richie flies across the train, he reaches out to grab anything to stop his forceful inertia. Unable to grab on, and in desperate hope, he kicks the train roof, propelling himself up to the tunnel ceiling, and falls barely within the last compartment door platform.

Gasping for air, Richie's body is swarming with pain, unable to comprehend where the source is coming from. Nauseated from the rough treatment, Richie struggles to regain his breath, spiraling him deeper into painful anguish. Hearing a roar, followed by gun shots, Richie struggles to get back on his feet, only to fall again.

_Come on Richie, they need you. This is your last chance to do something right._

Fighting off the vertigo, he makes it back onto his feet, regaining his rhythmic breath once again. Looking over the side, he sees down the couple of compartments and spots the flailing tentacles, "last chance."

Failing to open the locked door, Richie climbs back on top of the speeding train and runs toward the madness. Seeing only tentacles, Richie spots the giant blob wedged within the compartment, continuing to grow in size. Pulling out his knife, Richie jumps off the platform and lands onto the protruding flesh of the beast, and begins to thrust his blade within. Yet to no avail, he begins to find himself being sucked in. "No!"

Fighting to break free, a sharp pain spreads through his body, halting his struggle, _no… not now. Please body not now. _

"GAAHH!"

Yelling out in deathly pain, Richie's body contorts over onto the absorbent mutated doctor. Losing focus, Richie frantically tries to break free, but with every struggle, his body protests angrily with increasingly jolts of pain. Half way from being sucked in, Richie is unable to move any longer, unable to fight the growing pain that engulfs his shriveling body. Barely able to keep his head up, gasping for air, the robotic woman announces another fatal warning.

"**Warning, warning, the self destruct system has been activated. Each train compartment will detonate sequentially. Repeat, each train compartment….**"

Everything is muffled out as Richie is totally within the beast, slowly being digested as the flesh eating acids begin to rip the remaining clothing he has on left. Unable to move, fading in and out of consciousness, Richie lets go of the tears that he has been holding in for so long, releasing the bitter frustration and anguish that has consumed his mind, body, and spirit. Fading slowly out of this world, Richie's body lies limp, ready to be feasted on by its captor.

"AHHH!"

Catapulted back to reality, Richie recognizes that terrified scream, _Sherry_.

Coming back to focus, Richie finds himself surrounded by limbs, muscle tissue, and fat. Still clutching his knife, Richie mentally orders his body to obey his last command, to one last time do something right. Forcing through the mass tissue, Richie slowly crawls past the decaying limbs, struggling to keep conscious as his body tries to shut down from over painful exertion.

Continuing his miserable crawl, Richie abruptly halts before a recognizable Dr. Birkin's face.

Looking at the face that had hoped so much for a better future, only to be consumed by his life's work, to be brought to such a sorry state. Richie forces himself to continue on, having only pity on the lonely doctor.

Cutting through the dead tissue, Richie finally sees an opening and with the remaining strength that he has, forces his head through. With a sudden jolt, the train begins an abrupt stop, and shouts are heard outside.

_Good everyone made it out ok. _

Ripping through the rotting fat, Richie finally breaks through, leaving his naked body covered only with slime and the stank of the monster. Finding himself on the connecting corridor for the compartments, the giant beast continues to expand at a rapid rate and is gaining on its victims.

_If I don't stop it now, then it will be too late. _

With no other option to slow it down, Richie limps toward the back of the creature, "this is my last chance, I have to give it my all… Goodbye Sherry… Goodbye Ada…"

Inhaling as much air as he can muster, Richie closes his eyes and exhales his stress, his emotions, and his fears, bringing a mindful peace to his body. Seeing his family waiting for him with open arms, he opens his eyes and everything around him has slowed down, complimented with a peaceful silence.

Reaching toward the large lump of monstrous mass, Richie grips tightly and begins to pull. Slowly walking back, Richie overexerts his muscles to keep the monster from advancing, anything to let the survivors escape.

Peering over the side of the train, Richie sees the three run toward the light, and for a second, a quick second, his eyes finally meets with Sherry's. That second brought a small smile to the young boy, as a single tear cascades over his once innocent face.

Seeing her, he knows that she felt his presence, that out of all this, he was able to keep his promise.

A slight hot tremor erupts behind him as he continues to pull the large demon. Feeling his muscle fibers rip and tear, Richie coughs up large amounts of blood as his body protests the abuse.

Another inferno quake erupts, ever so closer to the young hero.

Closing his eyes, Richie finds himself in an embrace with his parents as they are relieved to have their son. A fiery blanket engulfs him, yet to his surprise, soothes his tired body.

Finally able to let go of the hellish nightmare that consumed him, Richie is carried away through a relaxing bliss as his body melts within the divine universe, finally able to say, that he saved the day…


	13. Epilogue

**Epilogue:**

"Sherry get down!"

Leon shouts as he impales a zombie with a pitchfork.

Grabbing onto the wooden stick above her, Sherry hoists herself up and side kicks the zombie approaching Leon.

"Thanks."

With the small gap between the zombified fort, Leon grabs Sherry and they both sprint out of the small alleyway, looking for higher ground.

It has only been eight months since their mission in China, and with a lot of persuading and making big promises; Leon was able to get Sherry to transfer into his department. Yet, the bureaucrats are breathing down his neck for any mishap that happens, which will be blamed on him.

"Leon look!"

Pointing to an emergency fire escape, Leon runs toward it, leaping on top of the dumpster and propelling himself toward the ladder. Barely able to keep himself up, he begins his ascent. Sherry follows suit and manages to keep up the acrobatics as well.

"Yalla'h! Honeekeh!"

Looking down, Leon sees the militants gathering around, scheming the best way to reach the two Americans. After China, terrorists around the world were able to purchase the same biological weapons used and Syria has become a breeding ground for new types of viruses.

Like the J'avo, this new strain of virus has made the terrorists smarter, and even closer to an evolved form of beings. There have been less defects found, making it harder to detect who is using the virus.

Yet only extreme stress can trigger a switch within the virus, causing the person to mutate at a grotesque rate. The worst part of it is, every group of militants have at least one controller, who is able to harness the virus and control lesser creatures, such as the hunters and lickers.

"Sherry! Through here!"

Leon directs her toward an open window, were the only illumination is a night light.

"Look around and see if you can find any ammo. We can't keep going empty like this."

Having his knife ready, Leon investigates the empty rooms, only to find nothing of use.

"Leon! Help me with this door."

Reaching the end of the hall, they synchronize their kicks, bashing the door down. Turning on the flashlights attached to their Bluetooth headsets, they see a gruesome sight. A small family all huddled together, with gunshots bearing through their skulls. A family with old and very young.

"Do you see anything we could use?"

Sherry shakes her head and walks out of the room.

Over fifteen years have passed since the dreadful event in Raccoon City, changing their lives forever. Yet, no matter how much they have seen, or endured, seeing a sight like this always shakes them.

"Come on Sherry, lets get out of here."

Walking toward the front door, "_click, click, click…"_

Halting in their tracks, they have their knives ready, slowly reaching for the door handle.

"GYAAHH!"

A spine tingling shriek stops Leon from turning the handle, followed by a large thud against the door. Looking at Sherry to figure out what had happened, a few people outside the door begin to shout and gun fire follows.

Running for cover, Leon keeps his eye on the front door, while Sherry covers the rear. Waiting for more gunshots, they only hear silence. Signaling Sherry to cover him, he creeps toward the door and grabs the handle. Opening it slowly, he peeks his head out and sees an infected massacre across the hallway.

Lickers with severed heads and mutilated militants.

_Who or what could have done this?_

Leon shakes off the many disturbing thoughts that want to answer his question, and signals Sherry to keep moving.

"Lets take those stairs and get to the roof."

Running past the deadly mess, they push their bodies beyond the limit, feeling the fatigue creep up ever so closer. Opening the door at the top, they move out cautiously.

"Stay low and find cover, there could be snipers."

Crouching beside an air-condition duct, Leon scopes around the other roof tops and cautiously stands up.

"It's clear."

Taking in their surroundings, they feel sorry for the historical country and the once so beautiful city. Buildings burning to the ground, gunshots and rockets echo throughout the land, and explosions thundering nearby neighborhoods.

Leon and Sherry watch as another civilization crumbles to the ground, as countless lives are being taken by the virus.

Getting lost within the chaos, the two foreigners are unaware of their stalker. Hiding in the shadows, this creature has been their guardian angle and grim reaper.

_They have no idea how much of a nuisance they are, yet the plan calls for them. Keep them alive until I give the order. _

Silently obeying the dark command, the assassin watches Sherry, flooding his senses with memories of the time they spent so long ago…


End file.
